Brandt Snedeker has fallen into exactly the same trap this week at the Presidents Cup to the one that caught out Keegan Bradley during the Ryder Cup last year.
The International team took a commanding 7-3 lead into day three of the Presidents Cup at Medinah after a clean sweep in the afternoon foursomes.
The foursomes format is a major problem for the United States. They have gone 6-24-0 in alternate shot over the past two editions of the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup.
Sure, much depends on how well the players actually perform on the day, but Brandt Snedeker made a major mistake on day two of the Presidents Cup which could cost the US dearly.
The 46-year-old seems to be making pairing selections based purely off vibes rather than data.
Some may say how on earth would you know that? Well, there is absolutely no way that the data would have directed him towards a Justin Thomas and Cam Young pairing for the foursomes session at Medinah.
Brandt Snedeker’s awful decision sums up USA’s huge Presidents Cup issue
Thomas and Young were beaten convincingly by Team International duo Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
In fairness, the 3&2 scoreline probably should have been even greater.
The International duo made five birdies through 16 holes, while Thomas and Young made just one.
It was a really poor performance from two golfers who never should have been paired together in the first place.
Thomas does possess a 4-1-2 record at the Presidents Cup in foursomes, but at the Ryder Cup, his record stands at 2-4-0 in the alternate shot format.
Meanwhile, Young has a 2-2-0 foursomes record.
However, the main problem with them as a foursomes pairing is the fact that they’re both seriously wayward drivers of the golf ball.
Young and Thomas were ranked 69th and 70th respectively in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour in 2026.
Both players hit roughly 61% of fairways and that is a big worry in foursomes. It really is no surprise that they were beaten so comprehensively.
The decision by Brandt Snedeker to pair Justin Thomas and Cam Young together for the day two foursomes session at the Presidents Cup was, quite frankly, an appalling one
Brandt Snedeker admits to Thomas and Young pairing mistake
Keegan Bradley made a similar mistake with the Collin Morikawa and Harris English pairing at the Ryder Cup last year.
The only difference is that Snedeker almost certainly will not make the same mistake twice, just like Bradley did at Bethpage, by pairing Thomas and Young together again in the foursomes.
After the second day’s play, Snedeker admitted he made a mistake.
“That was something we had thought about beforehand,“ he said.
“We felt like Justin and Cam had played so well the first day, it was going to be kind of hard to keep them off the golf course.
“That’s one of the things as captain you look back on maybe when this thing is all over with it might not have been the right decision, but it seemed like the right decision at the time. Those guys are both great guys. They played fantastic on Thursday. Just kind of felt like I’d roll with it.“
Judging by those comments, we won’t be seeing Justin Thomas and Cam Young as a foursomes pairing again on Saturday at Medinah.
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