The Presidents Cup comes to Quail Hollow next year with a Charlotte native as a captain
The U.S. team will have a local touch when it competes against an International squad next year in the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in south Charlotte.
Charlotte-born Davis Love III will captain the U.S. squad in the event, set for Sept. 19-25, 2022.
He will be the ninth person to lead the American team, following such golf luminaries as Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“The Carolinas mean so much to me and my family, and it’s humbling to know that I will return to Charlotte in this new role, to help carry on the rich sports tradition the Queen City has developed through the years,” Love, 56, said.
His International team counterpart will be South Africa’s Trevor Immelman.
The Presidents Cup was to have been played at Quail Hollow Club later this year. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced the PGA to postpone the Ryder Cup from last fall to this September, and the Presidents Cup was pushed back a year.
Love, named to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017, played in the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, compiling a 4-0-1 record as the U.S. team won 20-12.
He also has considerable experience leading the U.S. team in international competition. He was an assistant captain with the U.S. team in the 2013, 2015 and 2017 President Cups, and captain of the U.S. squad in the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cups.
“My history with this event, dating back to 1994, conjures up indelible memories of competition, camaraderie and sportsmanship,” Love said. “I’m thrilled to be leading the top American players into the Quail Hollow Club next year.”
Members of the U.S. and International teams are expected to be named early next year.
Love, son of famed golf instructor Davis Love Jr., was born in Charlotte in April 1964. Four days before Davis Love III’s birth, his father led the Masters after the first round. Arnold Palmer eventually won the tournament.
Davis Jr. and his wife Penta moved with their son to Georgia a few months later, and Love grew up in coastal Georgia, where he still lives.
But he played collegiately at the University of North Carolina. There, he was a three-time All-America selection and won the 1984 ACC Championship.
In March 1984, while at UNC, he was part of the foursome when another Tar Heel sports standout, Michael Jordan, played his first round of golf. According to several stories, Love gave Jordan his first set of golf clubs.
Love later went on to score 21 PGA Tour victories, including two Players Championship victories and the 1997 PGA Championship. He finished second twice in the Masters and once in the U.S. Open.
“Davis has been instrumental in the foundation and continued growth of the Presidents Cup, and it’s only fitting that he returns to Charlotte to lead the U.S. team in 2022,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said. “He has been a role model to so many youngsters on the PGA Tour.”
Love, who has played in several tournaments at Quail Hollow Club, said the south Charlotte course is a great place for the Presidents Cup.
“It will be a perfect venue for a match-play event, given the variation of challenges it presents,” Love said. “I think you will see players taking on a number of risk-reward shots throughout the week.”
Quail Hollow Club will host the Wells Fargo Championship again this year, from May 3-9. That event will be moved in 2022 to TPC Potomac, near Washington, so Quail Hollow Club can be prepared for the Presidents Cup.
Love and his wife escaped serious injury last March when fire destroyed their home along the Georgia coast. Love also stepped away from his job as a CBS golf analyst last summer, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family and playing competitive golf.
He has designed more than two dozen golf courses around the world, including The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, and courses in Chapel Hill, Greensboro, near Fayetteville and in Columbia.
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
