JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton will be on the first tee on Thursday when the Presidents Cup begins at Liberty National Golf Club.
All three served as honorary chairmen of the event during their time as U.S. President; President Donald Trump is the honorary chairman this year.
Although the PGA Tour confirmed the three former presidents would be here Thursday, the organization would not comment on a Golf Channel report that Trump will make an appearance Sunday.
This is the 12th Presidents Cup, which began in 1994 and pits a team of United States players against an International squad from players outside of Europe. The U.S. leads the competition 9-1-1 and lost for the only time in 1999.
On Thursday, there are five foursomes (alternate shot) matches, followed by five fourball (better-ball) matches on Friday. Saturday has two sessions and eight matches followed by Sunday's singles.
The U.S. team of Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas will begin play at 1:05 p.m. against Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and South Africa's Charl Schwartzel.
Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar will take on Australia's Adam Scott and Venezuela's Jhonattan Vegas at 1:17 p.m., followed by Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed against South Korea's Si Woo Kim and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo. At 1:41 p.m., Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger go against South African's Branden Grace and Louis Oosthuizen.
The last match at 1:53 p.m. has Phil Mickelson, making his 12th appearance in the event, paired with Kevin Kisner and playing against Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman.
"I think we've got some great matches,'' said International captain Nick Price, who held the same role in 2013 and 2015. "We've got a lot of power, and I always say: this is 18-hole match play, it's anybody's game. It's all about momentum, team spirit and who gets off to a good start."