Ever since the Presidents Cup player list for Team USA has dropped, the golf world has been nothing short of chaos. The netizens are turning red over the captain, Jim Furyk’s picks, and well, they have a good reason to.

The six captain’s picks are Keegan Bradley, Brian Harman, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Tony Finau, and Max Homa. While this may seem like a harmless selection, believe us, it has ignited a fire in the golf community. The selection has raised the average age of the team to 34.2, which makes it the third-youngest in Presidents Cup history. However, the selection process is being called out for snubbing talented golfers like Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, who were expected to make the team. Keegan Bradley is the playing vice-captain and other than him, all the selected ones have had a fairly mediocre year.

But what surprised the fans most was that Akshay Bhatia was nowhere on the list. Akshay Bhatia had his heart set on playing in the Presidents Cup, and he wasn’t afraid to say it. “Presidents Cup’s definitely a goal; obviously, playing for your country is really special.  I hope to try and make my way towards that team. I’ve just heard a lot of great stories when it comes out of those team rooms.””  he had said previously. One can imagine how bummed the golfer would be after seeing Team USA.

Talking about his first full season on the Tour, Bhatia seemed excited and grateful. He said, “I’ve had a lot of missed cuts and I’ve had a lot of made cuts and top 15s and a couple chances to win here and there. All in all, it’s been a pretty good first full season.” Naturally, his snub hurts. The golf community is abuzz with debate against captain Jim Furyk, and many are advocating for the overlooked players.

Fans comment on Jim Furyk’s President Cup team selection

The question starts where it ended: why was Akshay Bhatia overlooked despite giving a fabulous performance in the 2024 season? He won his second PGA Tour event at the Valero Texas Open and had several top-10 finishes, which included a close second place at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. These achievements propelled him into the world’s top 30 rankings. Additionally, fans had observed significant growth in the golfer’s gameplay, so it was hard to understand why he wasn’t picked for the team. One fan said, “Can’t believe Akshay was overlooked here,” while this fan said, “Where is Akshay?”. 

Many were wondering how some players got the spots instead of him, mainly Max Homa and Brian Harman. And well, Homa did have a fairly bad season this year. He finished dead last at T70 two times this year and missed the cuts three times. “Great picks overall; I think Bhatia earned it over Harman, but other than that, it’s great,”  said one fan. The 2023 The Open winner did have a few good ones such as T5 in Sentry and T2 at The PLAYERS, but overall, it was not the kind of year one would praise.

Another fan brought up the name everyone has been waiting for and said, “Justin Thomas over Max. Akshay over Harmon. This team is gonna lose.” Yes, Justin Thomas could’ve been an epic choice, and we’re not saying this; the stats are. After a rough 2023 season put a dent in his chances, Thomas worked hard to turn things around. He had 5 impressive top-10 finishes under his belt, and with this experience, he might have made a good addition. But sadly, none of it paid off.

Other than the six captain’s picks, six other players qualified automatically, and this fan wanted to know exactly that: “Who auto-qualified?”. For Team USA, it’s all about racking up those FedEx Cup points. The top six players with the most points after the BMW Championship get an automatic spot on the team. Players earn points based on their performance, and the top six with the most points after the BMW Championship make the cut. Currently, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, and Sahith Theegala have earned their spots for Team USA.

So what do you think about Jim Furyk’s selection? Let us know in the comment section below!