Captain Greg’s Presidents Cup quandary

BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2009 The Presidents Cup | General | 05 Sep 2009

With just three days for those on the fringe of Presidents Cup selection to seek Captain Greg Norman’s consideration for one of his two Captain’s picks for the International Team, there are still many permutations which could yet effect the decision.

The Presidents Cup will be played from October 8th – 11th at the Harding Park Golf Club in San Francisco.

With the leading ten players established via a world ranking system at the completion of the PGA Championship, the remaining two places have been up for grabs for the past three weeks. The concern is that very few have taken advantage of the opportunity to make one last statement.

Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Angel Cabrera, Ernie Els, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang and Tim Clark provide a formidable list but the final two additions could play a key role in success or failure for the Internationals.

The next few players on the points list have hardly been setting the world on fire in recent months. Rory Sabbatini has finished no better than 34th in his last seven starts on the PGA Tour missing the cut at the Barclays and then making a poor start this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Surely, on that basis, he can’t be considered.

Jeev Milkha Singh offers genuine reason for consideration. Not long back from injury, Singh has played well since, making all four rounds at the PGA Championship and doing well enough when 17th at the recent Wyndham Championship. Singh has made a solid start to this week’s Omega European Masters and a top five there might be enough to get the job done.

Shingo Katayama has played well enough in Japan this season but against stronger opposition in the US in recent weeks he has struggled. His 4th place finish at Augusta National may however still be a factor in the final analysis.

Adam Scott is no hope given the struggles in 2009, which have seen him slip outside the top fifty in the world and battle poor and inconsistent form since his runner up finish in Hawaii in January. Scott has recorded only one top 20 in his last eighteen starts and has missed more cuts that he has made in that time.

Mathew Goggin’s near miss at the Open Championship was eye-catching but he has been inconsistent for much of the season and would need to put in a big finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship if he was to be any chance.

K.J. Choi has surely played his way out of consideration in recent months as it would seem has Trevor Immelman and so where do we go from there?

Stephen Ames played well at the US Open and did well enough in his home event in Canada but he has no Presidents Cup experience and without startling form he might not have done enough to catch Norman’s eye. He has made a good start at the Deutsche Bank Championship however and if he can finish it off well he could still get the nod.

There is talk of Michael Sim being a consideration and one look at his record this season indicates that might not be as silly as it seems.

He leads the Nationwide Tour money list by a street and is now a PGA Tour player although he will not get his first start as a card holder there until early October.

Importantly for Sim is the fact that he has been so consistent this season and that in both the US Open and the PGA Championship he played all four rounds and in fact at the US Open he was the leading Australian, finishing ahead of the two inclusions Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby at Bethpage.

17-year-old Japanese superstar, Ryo Ishikawa, has been talked up as a possible inclusion given his stunning run in Japan this season. This week he again leads an event there but his form when playing in the US and Britain indicates he might not yet be ready to handle this level. There is little doubt of the impact on the interest in the event in Japan if he was to be included but that should not be a criteria and I hope it is not.

Brendan Jones last eight holes at the PGA Championship cost him any chance it would seem as a big finish there might have forced him into consideration.

Much therefore depends on the next three days and the statements those hoping for selection make in events this weekend. It could now come down to just that.

Norman has seven major winners amongst those already in the team. If he was to take a gamble therefore on one or two in-form but inexperienced players, it would not upset the balance of the team too much.

The way I see it Jeev Milkha Singh, Stephen Ames and Michael Sim might be the three who fight it out for the two remaining places.

Discuss this article in our forums