Are the Internationals a chance against the US?
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2005 The Presidents Cup | Preview | 21 Sep 2005
The sixth staging of the Presidents Cup will be the focus of much of the world’s golfing attention this week when all the Presidents men go at it on the shores of Lake Manassas in Virginia.
The Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, designed by its namesake, is staging the event for the fourth time with each of the previous encounters on US soil played over the 7350 yard layout.
The Americans have yet to be beaten on home soil but in 1996, at the second ever Presidents Cup, they only just got home, winning by a narrow point over the International Team.
While the event has yet to reach the heights of the Ryder Cup, there is a growing level of intensity in the competition between the two sides. The Internationals will be keen to turn the tables against their foes on American soil while the Americans will be equally determined not to disappoint their loyal fans. This year is going to further heighten the importance of the event to world golf and the result may well provide the future direction on which this competition is to be based.
The other key difference to the Ryder Cup is the schedule for the week. Unlike the Ryder Cup which is played over three days, the Presidents Cup will play six Foursome matches on the Thursday, then six Four-ball matches on the Friday, with the Saturday completing the team side of things when five Four-ball matches will be played in the morning followed by five Foursomes in the afternoon. That then leads into the twelve singles matches on Sunday.
The extra day was added for the first time in South Africa in 2003, essentially to give greater exposure to all players with now only two players from each side standing down in both the morning and afternoon matches on Saturday. That allows a greater opportunity for the players themselves to determine the outcome rather than the Captain’s decisions in standing down players and more accurately reflects the relative strength of both sides. It also ensures that by the time the Sunday singles arrive, all players have been blooded in the intensity that is team golf at this level.
The Captains will, of course, play a key role in the combinations of those pairings over the first three days. They will no doubt consult their assistants or their leading players in formulating the combinations that best suit the requirements specific to that day, but the ultimate decision and responsibility remains with both Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
As is often the case when an American team takes on either the Europeans or, in this case, the rest of the world they are the strongest on paper. The same will be the case this year but as opposing sides have often proven that analysis is not worth the paper it is written on. Eight of the Americans are currently inside the top twenty in the world ranking compared to six Internationals. Fred Funk at number 33 is the lowest ranked of the Americans while Trevor Immelman, Gary Player’s controversial International team pick, is the lowest of the Internationals at 55.
The strength of the International Team however may well come via their combinations in the early days of the event. They led by three points before the singles in South Africa but in the three US staged encounters they have yet to lead at any stage of the events. As was the case two weeks ago when the Solheim Cup was staged in Indiana, the Europeans led early only to be run down by an American side inspired by their local fans. It may well be that a similar pattern will apply this week but the Internationals will likely need a substantial early lead if they are to hold off the Americans.
Tiger Woods, so often maligned for what outwardly appears to be a lack of ability to play in the team format, actually has a very good singles record in the three Presidents Cups in which he has played. He beat Norman at Royal Melbourne, Vijay Singh here at Lake Manassas and in South Africa he beat local hero Ernie Els before they were forced to go out and settle the overall match in extra time. Whether he gets the chance to tackle Singh again is very much in the lap of the gods, or at least Gary Player, but whoever is asked to confront Woods on Sunday will no doubt be questioning his often reported lack of interest. Woods’ form in the combined events, more especially the foursomes, has also been better then most would have us believe.
Vijay Singh will hopefully lead the Internationals by example and as the only player in the International side and as one of only three in either side here this week to have played all five of the Presidents Cup encounters to date, he has experience and current form on his side. Not only has Singh played in all five Presidents Cups, he has never been stood down from any match. Unfortunately for Singh he has won only one of his singles encounters, that being in South Africa when he defeated David Toms. Singh though has a solid record in the combined events winning eleven of his twenty matches more often than not in a losing team.
The man with the most impressive record in the event is one of the three who have played it on all five occasions, Davis Love III. Of the twenty three matches which Love has played he has won fourteen and lost only three. Although he has missed three of his last five cuts this season he was 4th at the PGA and will no doubt be ready to extend that impressive record this week.
The one real bonus that the International team have gained in the last few months in terms of bolstering its comparison with the Americans is the incredible run of form and resultant confidence of Michael Campbell. Before the US Open there was little chance of Campbell making the team. Now with the US Open and the World Match Play titles to his name, Campbell is no doubt riding high. Campbell did reasonably well on debut in 2000 when halving with Triplett and picking up a four-ball point.
Clearly if you are a player in the top fifty in the world you are capable of beating anyone on any given day but there are several players in the bottom half of the team who might find their lack of experience and in some cases recent form works against the team’s chances.
Mike Weir is the glaring example in that regard, at least in terms of recent form. Weir has a reasonable record in his two appearances in the event, beating Mickelson here in 2000 and then playing well in the combined match-ups in South Africa. Weir though has struggled all season missing seven of his last eleven cuts and having a best finish of 15th in that time.
Nick O’Hern showed at the start of the year that he is a good match player when he beat Woods at La Costa and went on to reach the quarter finals. He had played well at the Accenture in Melbourne four years ago also and has that nagging type of game that doesn’t give an opponent room to breathe when he is playing well. O’Hern has though not been quite a sharp over the last two months as he was in his previous eighteen months.
Player picked Peter Lonard for his consistency but since his win at Hilton Head his form has hardly been that. Lonard is however a tough competitor and despite a shaky start in South Africa two years ago he acquitted himself well in his Presidents Cup debut.
Trevor Immelman will be looking to repay the faith shown in him by his countryman and Captain, Player, with a performance similar to that of Tim Clark who was also a surprise selection in 2003. Clark joined forces with Els for two wins in the combined matches then but no doubt Immelman will feel the need to justify Player’s faith at a time when many felt there were others more worthy. Immelman is a fine young player but this is a big call by Player. He has played reasonably well in recent weeks
Debutant Mark Hensby got no favours from his team-mate, Goosen, last week at Wentworth when beaten 11 & 10 but Hensby has shown in 2005 that debuts are of not concern to him. He was fifth on debut at Augusta, third on debut at Pinehurst and 15th on debut at the Open Championship. He then won in his European Tour debut at the Scandinavian Masters. Other than a few social encounters he has probably not played Match Play since his amateur days in the early 1990’s but one thing that is for sure that he is unlikely to be overawed by the occasion. The word overawed does not appear to exist in the Hensby vocabulary.
Looking at the teams logically, especially given that they are on home turf so to speak, there is little reason to doubt yet another US victory. The one area where the Internationals may get an edge is in the early clashes over the first three days. If they can build up a lead of some sort heading into the singles and then hang on for grim death on what would then be a fascinating Sunday, then we could see a win against the odds.
History, class and hometown advantage are on the Americans side, but such is the desire and preparedness of the Internationals to die for the cause that they might just upset the pundits.
Photo – Anthony Powter
