Three years wait should prove worthwhile for Presidents Cup
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2003 The Presidents Cup | Preview | 19 Nov 2003
It’s finally here. Three years after the last time it was played in Virginia in October of 2000, the Presidents Cup gets underway tonight (Thursday) Australian time when every player takes to the Links Course at the Fancourt Hotel & Country Club in South Africa for the first round Foursomes.
Unlike the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup is played over four days with day one involving six teams of two from each side in the Foursomes, day two has Fourball in the morning and Foursomes in the afternoon with just five teams from each side participating in each and then on day three it is one round of Fourball with again all players involved. Sunday of course is the traditional Singles day.
For the first time in the ten year history of the event, the International team appear the strongest team on paper, at least in the top half of the team. The Internationals have eight of their team in the top 20 of the current world rankings versus just seven from the US Team. The lowest ranked player in the US team however is the 34th ranked Fred Funk while the lowest ranked International is 70th placed Tim Clark. There is, therefore, a ranking balance between the teams. The advantage that is currently being talked up about the International team is that the event is being played in South Africa arguably away from the comfort zone of the Americans and on a golf course which perhaps better suits the background of the International team.
Much has been made of the Links Course at Fancourt and the impact it will have on the outcome of the event. While links golf is not big in American golf it should be remembered before dismissing the USA team because of the style of course, that Americans have been successful in seven of the last nine British Open Championships played on such courses.
As has always been the case in both Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the match ups and combinations play a crucial role in the outcome of the event and in the day one foursome match ups there are already some interesting choices.
Game 1 – Day 1
David Toms and Phil Mickelson versus Nick Price and Mike Weir
Game 2 – Day 1
Chris DiMarco and Jerry Kelly versus Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh
Game 3 – Day 1
Davis Love III and Kenny Perry matched up against Presidents Cup rookies Peter Lonard and Tim Clark
Game 4 – Day 1
Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk the US combination at last week’s World Cup take on Ernie Els and Adam Scott
Game 5 – Day 1
Jack Nicklaus’ picks Jay Haas and Fred Funk line up against the Australian combination of Robert Allenby and Stephen Leaney
Game 6 – Day 1
Tiger Woods and Charles Howell round off day one when they meet Stuart Appleby and K.J. Choi
The Americans, however, need to win this one as they do not currently hold either the Solheim or Ryder Cups, nor for that matter the Walker Cup. They will be keen to win this to get at least some hardware back into the trophy cabinet of American golf.
Three of the previous four Presidents Cups have been played at the one venue in the USA, the only time they have taken the event away from there it proved a disaster for the Americans when they fell victim to an inspired International Team and a hot and blustery Royal Melbourne. The current scoreboard reads USA 3, International 1. Total points during that period are USA 69.5 International 58.5.
The Internationals may have a slight edge in terms of world rankings and “home ground” advantage, if that can be said about an International team, but there is every reason to believe that this may well become one of the closest fought match ups, at least since the one point difference between the teams in 1996.
