Presidents Cup 2007

From TheWest.com.au
5th April 2007, 12:23 WST

The race to make the International team for the Presidents Cup is heating up, and it’s going to be harder than ever to get a start.

Such is the depth of talent from outside the US and Europe that Aaron Baddeley, who currently is ranked 26th in the world, would not make the International team if it was selected now.

The side will be finalised after August’s US PGA Championship.

Ten players will earn automatic selection from the world rankings, with captain Gary Player picking two others to take on the Americans at Royal Montreal in Canada in September.

Ten International players currently are ranked among the top 25 in the world, a huge transformation in the past decade.

Stuart Appleby recalls that a world ranking in the low 60s was good enough to make the team in 1998.

Now, a ranking in the mid 20s is no guarantee.

“Not blowing my whistle, but if I don’t get in the team, we’re going to have one hell of a team,” said Appleby, whose world ranking of 19 leaves him ninth on the International standings.

Added Robert Allenby, speaking on the eve of the Masters: “It should be hard to make the team, because it is the rest of the world.

“It’s not surprising to me, because that’s the way golf is going.”

Based on current standings, five Australians would make the team - Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Nick O’Hern, Allenby and Appleby.

The other automatic berths would go to South Africans Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman, Fiji’s Vijay Singh and Korean KJ Choi.

Notably absent are any Canadians, although Stephen Ames, a Trinidad-born Canadian citizen, is 12th in the standings and has a good chance to play his way in.

Canada’s favourite son, 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, has been quiet the past couple of years and is currently 19th in the International standings.

Player has said he will not use Weir for a captain’s pick simply to put a Canadian on the team, but it’s hard to imagine the local galleries getting too worked up to support an International team that does not include at least one of their own.

Meanwhile, Appleby is excited the 2011 Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne after a break of 13 years.

“There’s no more fitting place to put a premium tournament than Royal Melbourne,” he said, assuming that’s where the event will be held, even though there has been no announcement.
AAP