It’s safe to say that Jacob Bridgeman made the right decision to play this week ahead of his debut at the Presidents Cup. While most players such as Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young and Si Woo Kim opted to rest up, Bridgeman wasn’t the only one who chose to tee it up this week at either the PGA Tour’s Biltmore Championship Asheville or DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship.
Let’s take a look at how competitors in next week’s Presidents Cup between 12-man teams representing the U.S. and the rest of the world outside of Europe fared.
United States Team
Jacob Bridgeman: A+
He was the top-ranked player in the field in Asheville, and he played like it all week. A final-round bogey-free 61 is about as good as it gets in terms of going into his first biennial competition feeling good about his game.
As Brendon de Jonge of Golf Channel put it on the broadcast, “Guys are going to be lining up to play with him next week.”
Jackson Koivun: A
The 21-year-old out of Auburn looked sharp all week in posting 21 under and a T-5 finish. He birdied three of the last four holes for 65, a day after shooting 63. Koivun is the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2013 to be 21 years old or younger to be competing for Team USA in the Presidents Cup.
Justin Thomas: No Grade
Thomas was announced as the headliner in the field for the tournament debut in Asheville but he withdrew on the Sunday before the tournament. Like Bridgeman and Koivun, Thomas was a captain’s pick. Chris Gotterup, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele also skipped playing this week. Thomas didn’t cite a reason for his last minute change of plans. Thomas last competed at the PGA Tour's BMW Championship.
International Team
Adam Scott: A
Making his 12th straight appearance for the black and gold, the Aussie is coming in hot after finishing in a four-way tie for second at the BMW PGA Championship. His last five starts have been T-16 or better. Scott will need to carry that form to Chicago and earn some points for his fellow Aussie Ogilvy.
Ryan Fox: A-
The Champion Golfer of the Year made a charge up the leaderboard at Wentworth on the front nine Sunday before stalling on the back nine. He shot his third 68 of the week and finished T-6 at the BMW PGA. A solid tune-up for the Kiwi before his Presidents Cup debut.
Corey Conners: B-
The Canadian started hot but was never a factor this week at the Biltmore Championship. He was pleased with his final-round 64.
“Always feels good to shoot a nice round and definitely feel like the game is heading in the right direction,” he said. “Excited, yeah, to get going next week.”
Nick Taylor: C+
He shot bookend 67s and a pair of 70s in the middle frames to finish T-57. International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy is going to need some clutch putting from the Canadian.
Nico Echavarria: C-
He gave a good press conference but that was the highlight of his short stay in Asheville after rounds of 73-75. The Colombia native struggled to find fairways and his short game wasn’t sharp. He’s going to need to step it up next week.
Ryo Hisatsune: D+
Japan’s rising star had a streak of 21 straight cuts made this season but he’s now missed the cut in his last two starts at events with a cut. Not an encouraging sign.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout: D
C-Bez is facing scrutiny as the lowest-ranked player on the team. As things stand, he would be in danger of losing his card for next season but he’s one of the top 12 for the International Team.
He shot 73-67 and missed the cut, which isn’t a huge vote of confidence heading into next week.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: How did Presidents Cup players fare this week? Who found form and who's searching for it
