Presidents Cup 2007

From The Globe & Mail LORNE RUBENSTEIN

It’s been proposed that the main reason the United States has won only one of the past six Ryder Cups is that its players don’t unite as a team. In the two most recent competitions, the Americans lost by nine points in 2004, and by the same enormous margin in the event that concluded Sunday at The K Club in Straffan, Ireland.

But maybe there’s another reason for the dismal U.S. performances in recent Ryder Cups. It comes down to three words.

The Presidents Cup.

The PGA Tour was the main force behind the Presidents Cup, which started in 1994 so that golfers not eligible for the Ryder Cup could compete biennially against a U.S. team. Elite golfers such as Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Michael Campbell and Mike Weir play against Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and other U.S. players who qualify in years when the Ryder Cup isn’t on.
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From The Toronto Star
Sep. 22, 2006. 06:36 AM
DAVE PERKINS

STRAFFAN, Ireland—The Ryder Cup, which began this morning and not a moment too soon — weather permitting, of course — may well live up to its hype as the greatest event in golf. It often, even usually, does. But it still could learn a few things from the Presidents Cup.

Most athletic competitions, the better team wins. Or at least that’s the way to bet. But the Ryder Cup doesn’t always work out that way; in effect, the format favours the weaker team. By letting each captain sit out four players at a time, a smart man at the helm — and so far this week that’s clearly Tom Lehman — can sidestep an opposition’s superior depth.

That’s why the Europeans, in four of the past five RCs, have upset (if that’s the word) the more heavily star-loaded U.S. teams and it’s why, this time, a deeper European team could well lose as the favourite, although that’s a shrinking role, with the betting line moving more toward the U.S. in the past 36 hours.

Letting them all play is one of three reasons the PC has a superior format to the Ryder. None of this business of a guy striving for two years to make a team and then getting told to go sit out once the games begin. Go tell Luke Donald and Paul McGinley and Chad Campbell, among those on the bench this morning, that this is the best format.
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From Golf Digest
See how you match up in these 10 match-play situations

By Jack Nicklaus, Golf Digest Playing Editor, with Guy Yocom, Golf Digest, September 2004

As a captain of two Ryder Cup teams and a player on six others, I’ve learned from hard and happy experience some of the finer points of match-play strategy. Team play is fascinating on two distinct levels. The captain is charged with formulating two-man teams in the foursomes (alternate-shot) and four-balls (best-ball) competitions, and sending out players in just the right order in the singles matches. The challenge is an art as much as a science, and the captain relies on intuition, input from the team and observation of his players.

Then there is the tactical side, which rests mostly with the players during the course of the matches. Who hits first in the foursomes matches? Who putts first? Do you let your partner go for a dangerous par 5 in two or insist that he lay up? Which putts do you concede, and which partner concedes them? These are questions no captain or player has mastered completely and never will, because every match, every player and every situation is a bit different.

The following quiz reflects the subjective nature of team play, which I’ll encounter again next year when I captain my third Presidents Cup team. Some of the answers are hard and fast, others are arbitrary. If you answer more than half of them correctly—and there are a couple you won’t miss even if you disagree with me—you might make a good captain. Or at least a heckuva partner in your next weekend match.

1. One player has a 20-foot putt for birdie, his partner a six-footer for par. Who putts first?
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Vartan Kupelian: Burning Questions

Burning questions from Europe’s overwhelming 18 1/2 -9 1/2 victory at the Ryder Cup:
Q . Same old question: What’s wrong with the United States at the Ryder Cup?
A . Same old answer: Everybody is missing the obvious.
The American performances at the Ryder Cup haven’t been the same since the introduction of the Presidents Cup.
Every year is simply too much for this kind of competition.
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From MikeWeir.com

MISSISSAUGA, ON – The PGA TOUR has entered a licensing agreement with Waterford Industries Ltd., the master licensee for Weir Golf and Weir Golf Premium, to bring 2007 Presidents Cup licensed merchandise to the Canadian marketplace.

The agreement allows Waterford Industries to distribute The Presidents Cup branded Weir Golf Premium apparel in addition to The Presidents Cup golf accessories under the company’s Waterford Golf brand. Waterford Golf will be offering The Presidents Cup branded golf bags, towels, divot tools and head covers.

“We are thrilled to partner with The Presidents Cup to develop products specifically for our market,” said Waterford Industries President Dan Keogh. “With the event being hosted in Canada for the first time and the best players in the world participating, we believe that this will be a landmark event in Canadian Golf history.”

“Having the Weir Golf Premium brand and Waterford Industries join our family of licensees in the Canadian market for The Presidents Cup makes perfect sense,” said Leo McCullagh, Vice President Marketing, Retail Licensing Worldwide for the PGA TOUR. “The Weir Golf brand is instantly recognizable and associated with excellence, as is The Presidents Cup, which allows for a natural relationship between the two brands.”

The Presidents Cup branded apparel and accessories by Waterford Industries will be available at selected retail stores and pro shops nationally beginning fall 2006.

The Presidents Cup will be held at Royal Montreal in Ile Bizard, Quebec from September 24 – 30, 2007.

From Sports Illustrated

Dave Stockton, who captained the U.S. Ryder Cup team to victory in 1991, says the key to winning in team golf is chemistry. “It’s not who’s the hottest golfer,” he says, “it’s who fits in the best.” SI asked a dozen other past and present Ryder and Presidents cuppers what they thought were the keys to victory and came up with this list of laws.

I. Thou Shalt Be Compatible
This sounds too simple to be important, but it was the No. 1 factor given by the players and captains for what makes a good pairing. You don’t have to be best friends, they said, but you have to be friendly and communicate. “You have to be comfortable,” says Jim Furyk. “You need to be excited with your pairing and say, ‘Gee, I can’t wait to play this match.’” Gee, if it’s that straight forward, how come we had to endure Woods-Mickelson last time around?

II. Thou Shalt Find the Right Partner for Tiger
Woods has a disappointing Ryder Cup record (5-10-1) in team matches, partly because he hasn’t found a soulmate while burning through 10 partners. The Americans think they found the answer — Furyk — at last year’s Presidents Cup, during which the pair was unbeaten in three matches. “Tiger and Furyk go about things similarly,” says Jerry Kelly. “They don’t talk much. They simply play their game. Furyk is seething to win. So is Tiger.”
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From Golf Today

With its global reach and stronger line-ups the Presidents Cup can replace the Ryder Cup as golf’s most prestigious team competition, according to rival captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.

“I think that the potential of the Presidents Cup to be greater than the Ryder Cup is there, simply because the scope is larger,” Nicklaus said on Tuesday as his U.S. team practised for their clash with the International team.

“You look at the players that are in the event and I think there are probably more good players in the Presidents Cup as it relates to world rankings than probably if you played the Ryder Cup,” he told reporters at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course.
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Montreal Gazette
Randy Phillips, CanWest News Service

ANCASTER, Ont. — The 2007 Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club shared the spotlight with the Canadian Open this week, proving how important the event is to the PGA Tour.

The biennial, international, match-play competition is Tim Finchem’s baby and the PGA Tour commissioner spoke precisely to it before the first ball was hit in the 97th edition of the world’s third-oldest national championship at Hamilton Golf and Country Club.

“We’re excited about it,” Finchem said of the event to be held next Sept. 25-30. “We made the decision to come to Canada with the Presidents Cup recognizing the intensity of the fan base in Canada.

“But I think the important thing about the Presidents Cup and that relationship here in Canada next year is that the Presidents Cup now has attained, and it really hit this level in Washington last year, a very special place in golf.”

Only a dozen of 45 corporate tents, priced at $70,000 US and $95,000, respectively, remain unsold. Ten-person private table seating either in the clubhouse or marquee village also is available at $20,000 and $18,000, respectively.

The event also appears to be en route toward a sellout with approximately 75 per cent of tickets already sold. Weekly passes are $350 or $250 while daily admission ranges from $35 for practice rounds to $65 on the final day, when the best 10 players selected from each of the two 12-man U.S. and international teams go head to head in singles matches.

Tickets, all in U.S. dollars, are available online at www.presidentscup.com, or via a link through the Royal Canadian Golf Association’s website at www.rcga.org.

“We’re way ahead of where we were prior to going to Washington in 2005,” Presidents Cup executive director Tom Clark said of last year at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Lake Manassas, Va., where the U.S. defeated the internationals 18 1/2 to 15 1/2, following a tie in South Africa in 2003.

“The biggest surprise has been the reception of the sponsors and ticket purchasers in the Montreal area. When we set our revenue goals, we hoped to reach people and surprisingly, they came onboard early to sign for sponsorships and hospitality.”

Players don’t receive prize money, but members of each 14-man team, including captains and their assistants, get an equal share to designate to charity. Each got $125,000 in 2005 and since the inaugural event in 1994, more than $13.5 million has been donated to charities worldwide.

Peter Stone, The Sydney Morning Herald
September 10, 2006

IT MIGHT be five years away, but Australia’s push to host the 2011 Presidents Cup increases in intensity this week with a visit by Mike Bodney, the US PGA Tour senior vice-president for championship management.

Bodney, no stranger to Australia as he lived in Melbourne for two years before the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, arrives tomorrow to inspect prospective venues in Sydney and Melbourne.

During the four-day visit, officials from Sydney clubs (Royal Sydney, The Australian, The Lakes and the NSW GC) and their Melbourne counterparts (Royal Melbourne, Kingston Heath, Metropolitan and the Victoria GC) will talk up the merits of their courses.

If Australia is to host the cup, and Japan is the only other country bidding for the 2011 series, Sydney might have the inside running, as not only has Melbourne hosted the event previously, but the Victorian Government has yet to guarantee financial backing.

In September 1998 at Brookline, MA The Royal Montreal Golf Club and The Country Club of Brookline, Massachusetts celebrated the 100th anniversary of their interclub matches, the oldest international golf match in the world.