Team events are some of the biggest weeks in the golfing calendar, but how realistic is adding a new mixed-gender golf tournament to an already packed schedule?
The Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup both see the best from Europe take on the United States, while the Presidents Cup – live this week on Sky Sports – is a biennial contest between Team USA and an International Team.
The Grant Thornton Invitational is a mixed team tournament taking place every December containing PGA Tour and DP World Tour players, following on from the defunct JCPenney Classic, but is there space for one on an international scale?
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A mixed team golf event will feature in the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, while Team Europe captain Luke Donald recently suggested launching a mixed team event that would share similarities with the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup.
“I’m all for having some events where we’re playing together and sharing each other’s talents,” Donald told the Telegraph ahead of the BMW PGA Championship. “I think it’s great to see that.
Luke Donald will captain Team Europe for a third consecutive Ryder Cup next year at Adare Manor
“Who wouldn’t want to see a Nelly Korda or Charley Hull playing with a Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm or Scottie Scheffler – some of the best in the world in the men’s and women’s games?”
Donald did caveat that the creation of a mixed Europe vs America team event would “take some time to create”, plus added it would be difficult to find a time in the calendar for the event.
“It’s great in principle but, when you get down to the practicalities of it, where it’s going to fit in the calendar?” Ryder Cup-winning captain Paul McGinley told Sky Sports.
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“Are the players going to play another team event, particularly when they’re probably not going to get paid for it? They’re the complexities of it, but it’s great in theory.
The Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and Presidents Cup all traditionally take place in September, following the end of the PGA Tour season, with the DP World Tour schedule the main focus in men’s golf during the autumn.
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“The more team stuff and the more golf we have, I think is great, but the schedule is getting tighter and tighter,” former DP World Tour player Anthony Wall told the Sky Sports Golf podcast.
“You’ve got golf in the Olympics and it’s getting harder and harder for guys to commit – that is the issue. We’ve tried a number of different things over the years and it’s just about weeks, it really is so difficult.”
Could the Presidents Cup be boosted by being mixed?
The idea of a mixed Presidents Cup has previously been debated to make the contest more balanced, with Team USA heading to Medinah this week chasing a record-extending 11th consecutive win over the International Team.
Five of the world’s top six in the women’s game – as of September 22 – would be eligible to represent an International side based on the current Presidents Cup format, where the United States face the rest of the world except Europe.
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“Maybe they [the PGA Tour] go into a partnership with the LPGA Tour to create something like that,” McGinley added. “Whether they do it for the Presidents Cup is doubtful, because they’ve already said no to that situation evolving.
“They may open up a new pathway for it, you never know, but it does make a lot of sense to do that because then you would get two really good, balanced teams.
“If you add half of the ladies internationally combined with the men, you would have a pretty formidable team and a team that would be very strong against the might of America.”
Who will win the Presidents Cup? Watch the United States take on the International Team exclusively live on Sky Sports, with all four days live from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream golf and more with no contract.