The Arnold Palmer Cup returns to Ireland this week for its 30th edition, and Team USA arrives at Tralee Golf Links with something to prove.
Since the competition expanded in 2018 to include both men and women in a true mixed-team format — USA versus International rather than USA versus Great Britain & Ireland — the momentum has swung decisively across the Atlantic. Team International has captured four of the last six matches, including a commanding 35-25 victory at Congaree last year. The Americans, who hold a slim 15-13-1 edge in the all-time series, will be looking to reverse that trend on one of the game's most spectacular stages.
Tralee Golf Links, perched above the Atlantic on towering dunes along Ireland's southwest coast in County Kerry, carries special resonance. Palmer famously said of the course he designed that he "designed the first nine holes and God designed the back nine," a fitting description for a layout that opened in 1984 after the club relocated from its historic 1896 site to its current seaside property at Barrow.
USA TEAM
The American squad arrives loaded with firepower. Reigning NCAA champion Farah O'Keefe of Texas headlines a women's lineup that also features former Augusta National Women's Amateur champion Anna Davis of Auburn, USC standouts Bailey Shoemaker, Jasmine Koo and Kylie Chong, and Wake Forest teammates Chloe Kovelesky and Macy Pate. The men's side brings BYU's Kihei Akina, Auburn teammates Josiah Gilbert and Cayden Pope, and Florida's Jack Turner, among others.
INTERNATIONAL TEAM
But the International roster may be its deepest yet. Spain contributes three elite women — Stanford's Paula Martín Sampedro, Texas A&M's Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio and Florida's Paula Francisco — while Duke's Rianne Malixi represents the Philippines and Arkansas star Maria José Marín flies the Colombian flag. The men's side features Scotland's Connor Graham of Texas Tech, who helped International to last year's rout, South Africans Daniel Bennett (Texas) and Malan Potgieter (Louisiana), England's Luke Poulter of Florida, son of Ryder Cup legend Ian Poulter, and Vietnam's Nguyen Anh Minh of Oregon State, the first Vietnamese player ever selected.
Unlike the Walker Cup, where selection hinges on amateur accomplishments, the Palmer Cup draws from the world's collegiate ranks regardless of where players attend school. That means stars from Scotland, South Africa, Colombia and beyond compete for Team International even while playing college golf in the United States.
The three-day competition follows a Ryder Cup-style format across 60 total points: 12 mixed four-ball matches Friday, 12 foursomes Saturday morning followed by 12 mixed foursomes in the afternoon, and 24 singles matches Sunday.
HOW TO WATCH
For the first time, all three days will be streamed live on Golf Channel Mobile through the Golf Channel app and website as part of a new partnership between Golf Channel and the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation. Coverage begins Friday at 7 a.m. Eastern and runs through Sunday's singles matches, which conclude at 9 a.m. Eastern.
