Canada's Pendrith, Conners to play last matches of 1st round at Presidents Cup in Montreal

Unsurprisingly, the golfers on the International team have turned to hockey as a bonding experience as the Presidents Cup returns to Canada for the first time in 17 years.

Captain Mike Weir arranged for the Internationals — featuring golfers from Canada, South Korea, Australia, South Africa and Japan — to attend the Montreal Canadiens' 5-0 win pre-season win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday. It was a critical exercise for a team that only officially formed three weeks ago with players from five countries speaking three languages.

"You know, it kills me to say this, but it was pretty cool," said avowed Toronto Maple Leafs fan Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. "Those are some good dudes, and it's a cool building. They were super first class.

"We got to meet the coach, Martin St. Louis, and it was a real fun experience. We were on the bench for warm-ups and some of the guys came up and told us they were rooting for us this week."

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., was also enthusiastic about the visit to the Bell Centre, even though he had a Maple Leafs-themed golf bag for part of the 2023 PGA Tour season.

"A lot of the guys probably have never been to a hockey game before," said Pendrith on Wednesday. "A couple of the Korean boys got hockey pucks so they were really fired up. Really cool.

"They put us on the Jumbotron, the big screen, and it was neat. It was a fun time. Good to be with all the guys there and show them what Canada is all about."

The Presidents Cup is a biennial best-on-best tournament that sees 12 American golfers face 12 players from around the world, excluding Europe.

That format gives the United States two advantages, however.

First, the U.S. can build chemistry year-over-year as it also