With the decision by six more players to join LIV Golf, the departures of Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann leaves some spots to fill from outside the top eight in International team standings for the Presidents Cup. With Corey Conners already securing an automatic spot by finishing in the top eight, Adam Hadwin, with the experience of two Presidents Cups, is 12th and Mackenzie Hughes is 14th. Taylor Pendrith finished 18th in the standings, but ended the season with five top-13 finishes in his last six events this season. Pendrith also moves up the list of considerations as captain’s picks, since Anirban Lahiri, who finished 15th in the standings, and Marc Leishman (17th) have also defected to LIV … Three of the four Canadian possibilities for the Presidents Cup – Conners, Hughes and Pendrith – played their collegiate golf at Kent State … Expect Harold Varner III to be removed from Team RBC and as ambassador for its Community Junior Golf Program with his decision to join LIV Golf … Conners earned $540,000 for finishing 26th at the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta … Edmonton’s Wil Bateman leads the Fortinet Cup standings on PGA Tour Canada with two events to go, including this week’s GolfBC Championship in Kelowna. If he remains on top, Bateman will be eligible for every open Korn Ferry Tour event next year … This week’s poll question asks readers if the business where they work has a specific way of showing appreciation for departing summer staff at this time of year? As of this writing, 56 per cent of respondents said yes, while 44 per cent voted no. If you haven’t voted already, you can do so on the GNN home page.
