Presidents Cup Wrapup
Posted September 25th, 2005 by Erik J. Barzeski
The Presidents Cup is over, and our staff predictions are either right or wrong. Let's see how they break down.
Just before the start of the Presidents Cup, the staff of The Sand Trap .com made some predictions. By now, of course, you know that the United States won the Presidents Cup, 18½-15½ over a strong International team. You know that Chris DiMarco holed a clutch 15-footer to seize the 18th and critical point. You know that Phil Mickelson is the only player to halve his match on Sunday, and that Tiger Woods lost in singles - a rare occurrence.
Let's see how our predictions held up.
Final Score
The staff by and large predicted a win for the United States, with only Jeff Smith (17½-16½) predicting any less than 18½ points for the United States. Donald MacKenzie nailed the final tally, 18½-15½, but five others (Jeff, Erik, Cody, Everardo, and Josh) were within one point. The worst predictions belong to Dave Koster (21-13) and Brian Whittaker (22-12).
Biggest Point-Getter
The honor of most points won belongs to both Chris DiMarco (4-0-1) and Retief Goosen (4-0-1), a pair of polar opposites on the golf course. Only Cody Thrasher, who chose Chris DiMarco to win 4 points, and Josh Premuda, who listed Retief Goosen, chose the two top point-getters. Jeff and I chose Tiger Woods to earn 4½ - he won 2½. Dave Koster chose Davis Love III to win 4 - he too won 2½. Everardo Keeme chose Phil Mickelson, and Phil came close with 4 points. Brian Whittaker and Donald MacKenzie chose Kenny Perry and Fred Couples, respectively, Fred managed only 1½ and Kenny even less with one solitary point.
The final records, for those interested, are as follows:
U.S. Team
Name W L T Points Tiger Woods 2 2 1 2½ Phil Mickelson 3 0 2 4 David Toms 1 3 0 1 Kenny Perry 1 3 0 1 Chris DiMarco 4 0 1 4½ Jim Furyk 3 0 2 4 Fred Funk 0 2 2 1 Stewart Cink 1 3 1 1½ Davis Love III 2 2 1 2½ Scott Verplank 2 2 1 2½ Justin Leonard 3 1 1 3½ Couples 1 2 1 1½
International Team
Name W L T Points Vijay Singh 0 2 3 1½ Retief Goosen 4 0 1 4½ Adam Scott 3 1 1 3½ Angel Cabrera 1 1 3 2½ Tim Clark 2 2 1 2½ Michael Campbell 2 1 2 3 Stuart Appleby 0 4 1 ½ Mike Weir 2 2 0 2 Nick O'Hern 2 3 0 2 Mark Hensby 1 2 1 1½ Peter Lonard 2 2 0 2 Trevor Immelman 1 3 0 1
Biggest Disappointment
Erik J. Barzeski and Josh Premuda pointed at Fred Funk for a let-down, and with only one point, he was the lowest American point-earner along with David Toms and Kenny Perry (both of whom earned a win - Funk only earned two halves). Erik was right.
Cody Thrasher suspected Tiger Woods would be a disappointment. With 2½ points, it's tough to call this a disappointing loss, particularly after a thrilling battle on Sunday. Cody was wrong.
Dave Koster threw Mike Weir under the bus, but the scrappy left earned two points in a losing effort while one member of this team earned only ½ (Stuart Appleby) and five others earned as many points or less. Dave was wrong.
Everardo Keeme didn't choose anyone, hedging his bets by saying "one of the Americans who has been stuggling as of late." Here at The Sand Trap .com, we put our money where our mouth is. Everardo was disqualified for being a weenie.
Brian Whittaker chose Phil Mickelson, who was nearly the top American point-earner with a 3-0-2 record. Brian was wrong.
Jeff Smith lay the burden of "biggest disappointment" on Vijay Singh. Vijay managed to earn 1½ points through three ties. Several players earned less on both teams. Jeff was wrong.
Key Matchup
Erik J. Barzeski chose International Team Chemistry versus American putting, and American putting was certainly on fire this week, yet we heard little about how "closely knit" the International team was. Who won? The Americans with their putting, and Erik with this choice. Erik was right.
Cody Thrasher chose the first foursomes match on Thursday. The International Team won handily, 4&3, and were up 3-2 at the end of Thursday, but lost the Presidents Cup. Cody was wrong.
Dave Koster believed the key matchup would lie in the International Rookies vs. the less experienced Americans. The American "youngsters" dominated, and the US won the matches while the International rooks faltered. Everardo Keeme similarly supposed that the American team would easily handle the International rookies, and that was, for the most part, true. Dave and Everardo were right.
Josh Premuda figured that the Couples/Woods pairing (which lost 4&3 in the Thursday Foursomes) would set the tone for the matches. Couples never paired with Woods after that loss, and Josh was wrong.
Brian Whittaker listed experience vs. inexperience. The Americans had more experience and won the matches, so Brian was right.
Donald MacKenzie cited Tiger Woods vs. the clock, saying that Woods would be looking for Sunday night to roll around so he could get out of there. Woods, however, seemed to have his most enjoyable Presidents or Ryder Cup experience to date. Donald was wrong.
Jeff Smith took Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell versus anyone. With 4-0-1 and 2-1-2 records, respectively, Goosen and Campbell handled things well enough. Though their team lost, Jeff was right.
Photo Credit: © AP.
Feedback
We'd love to hear from you! Comment below or join our forum.
Posted 26 Sep 2005 at 11:22am #
That was some amazing golf over the weekend.
Posted 26 Sep 2005 at 12:42pm #
I was way off about Freddie. I should have known better when I saw that he ditched his Bridgestone irons for his old TaylorMade 300s. Anytime a guy goes back to an old standby at this point in the year, it means he's fighting something in his swing or in his head (or both). But I stick to my guns with Tiger just wanting to get out of there. He realizes that he has to show up and play all five matches, and did a better job looking semi-polite than he did at last year's Ryder Cup. But I still think he's going to skip one of these things, sooner than later.
Posted 27 Sep 2005 at 9:28am #
The Presidents Cup stepped up to the plate and hit a home run this past weekend.
Posted 28 Sep 2005 at 10:54am #
A couple young guns lead the field this week in Greensboro.
Posted 05 Oct 2005 at 10:09am #
The world's best come together for this World Golf Championship extravaganza!
Posted 12 Oct 2005 at 1:08pm #
With the Tour Championship less than a month away, it's time for many of the PGA Tour golfers to make a move.
Posted 01 Nov 2005 at 11:19am #
The year 2005 has had its fair share of ups, downs, and everything in between.
Posted 05 Nov 2005 at 3:52pm #
Our top five stories of the year… and three that almost made the cut. Can you guess what they are?
Posted 04 Dec 2005 at 11:24am #
Matt Killen is young enough to be PGA Tour winner Kenny Perry's dad. In fact, his best friend IS Kenny Perry's son. Yet he coaches a winner. Find out more about the rising young teaching star in this interview.
Posted 11 Apr 2006 at 1:14pm #
The Masters is behind us, but there are still some top golfers that have yet to show up this season.
Posted 02 May 2006 at 9:20am #
The 36th Ryder Cup is still four months from now, but that doesn't stop me from thinking about it.
Posted 29 Aug 2006 at 9:55am #
The U.S. has struggled mightily in recent Ryder Cups, but there might be light at the end of the tunnel after all.
Posted 12 Dec 2006 at 10:44am #
Part two of the top storylines for 2007 discusses The Golf Channel, Lefty, and more.
Posted 15 Mar 2007 at 9:27am #
[...] Leonard hasn't shown much fire since the 2005 Presidents Cup, and that will have to change for him to find future success. It will probably be a couple years at [...]