Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup: “The Tournament That Isn’t the Ryder Cup.” I think if you looked up the definition in the dictionary, that would be it. The Presidents Cup can’t and probably won’t ever shake that stigma. Even if it does plays second fiddle, the Presidents Cup offers some great golf after most of the season has passed. In The Numbers Game this week I’ll offer some thoughts on the players and what to expect in the biggest match play tournament… not named the Ryder Cup.

USA

Player           Win    Loss    Tie
Tiger Woods       8      7       0
Phil Mickelson    6     12       5
David Toms        1      4       0
Kenny Perry       6      3       0
Chris DiMarco     2      3       0
Jim Furyk         7      6       0
Fred Funk         1      2       1
Stewart Cink      4      0       0
Davis Love III   14      6       3
Scott Verplank    0      0       0
Justin Leonard    3      9       1
Fred Couples      8      3       1

I like the looks of the USA team. It has nothing to do with the fact that I am American, but more with the fact that there is only one Presidents Cup rookie on the team and that he (Scott Verplank) played in the Ryder Cup last year. So technically, he isn’t really a rookie. Verplank has had a solid year as well posting a couple seconds and two other top tens.

So working our way up the experience list, the USA has a few others that appear to be green by the numbers, but have that fiery competitive spirit. Cink, Toms, DiMarco, and Funk all have less than six matches in the Presidents Cup, but are seasoned pros that I don’t think will wilt under any sort of pressure. You simply can’t look at that list of names and think “weak.” Toms has a major victory and DiMarco was in a playoff in two of the past five.

The rest of the American team is as impressive as they are experienced with Tiger and Phil leading the way. Captain Jack Nicklaus picked Justin Leonard and Fred Couples to fill out the rest of the team. Between the two, they have 25 Presidents Cup matches and plenty of Ryders Cup experience on top of that. Were there some other players more deserving? Maybe, but Jack wanted guys he could plug in and not worry about. If he was a manager, Jack would be more of a delegator than a micro-manager.

International

Player             Win    Loss    Tie
Vijay Singh        12      11      2
Retif Goosen        5       5      0
Adam Scott          3       2      0
Angel Cabrera       0       0      0
Tim Clark           2       3      0
Michael Campbell    1       2      1
Stuart Appleby      3       7      1
Mike Weir           6       4      0
Nick O'Hern         0       0      0
Mark Hensby         0       0      0
Peter Lonard        2       2      0
Trevor Immelman     0       0      0

Now if it is a lack of experience you are looking for, here is where you are going to find it. First off, there are four golfers that have not played in a single Presidents Cup match. I really like Cabrera’s competitive spirit, but I’m not so sure about O’Hern, Hensby, or Immelman. They are all fine golfers, but I’ll be interested to see how things go for them in their first match.

After the four rookies, there are four more players that have competed in less than five matches. That means that 67% of the international team has less than five matches under their belt. Now in that group is one of the best up and coming golfers on Tour, Adam Scott. Not a bad guy to have on the team and if there is someone I’m not worried about, regardless of record, Scott is one of them.

The rest of the team is seasoned but mixed as far as performance goes this year. Singh and Goosen can be a bit boring, but are strong, unflappable competitors. I highly doubt that either of them will sit out any of the matches. Appleby started off the year well, winning the Mercedes, but has had an average year since then. Mike Weir had a mediocre year as well. He did finish 2nd at Pebble and 5th in the Masters, but he’s not someone I think the American group fears. Mike Weir circa 2003, maybe, but not Mike Weir 2K5.

The one thing I really like about the International team, and I’ve alluded to it before, is that they are a group of guys who don’t go on emotional roller coasters. I don’t think that Singh, Goosen or Scott change expressions more than once or twice during a round. I think this will calm some of the more inexperienced players on the team.

And the Winner Is…
You can probably guess where I’m going with this. I think that the Americans have better and more seasoned players. They have played in a total of 126 matches where the International team only has 74… and like I said above, some of the more experienced International players are not playing their best golf.

Without Ernie “Windsurfer” Els on the team on top of everything else, I really think that the US team will get out to a quick lead and win convincingly. Maybe its patriotisim, but you can’t compare these two teams and not give the edge to the US. Of course they usually say the same things going into the Ryder Cup, and we know how those have gone. Advantage on paper is means nothing after the first ball is struck