President's Cup - In the Dark Again?

[BruceMGF]

OK, remember the 2003 President's Cup? A 17-17 tie after the Sunday singles were played out. Instead of the Ryder Cup rule that the holder retains the Cup, the Prez Cup rules said each captain would nominate a player to participate in a sudden-death playoff. Tiger Wood and Ernie Els parred the first three playoff holes, darkness fell, and after protracted discussion, the Cup was declared a tie - a "true tie" with the then-defenders (United States) sharing, not retaining, the Cup.

Could it happen again?

No, you say. The rules have been changed. No playoff. Instead, all Sunday singles are played to a win or loss - with extra holes - to "reduce the chance of an overall tie". A tie can still occur (so what happens? A "true tie" or do the holders "retain"?) but no playoff in the dwindling light.

Well, think about it. It's 16.5-16.5 with the last singles match yet to finish. Say it's Furyk and Weir. They finish the 18th all square, go to extra holes and ...

It gets dark.

It doesn't have to be 16.5-16.5. It can be 17-16, either way. It doesn't even have the be the very last singles match, either. It could even be more than one match.

One suggestion back in 2003 was to start the singles earlier in the morning so there would be daylight for the playoff. But since then the singles have still gone off starting at about noon local time, with the last group teeing off after 2:00 PM.

Start 'em early, guys. Or get some stadium lights.

[bsulliva4]

I think the Presidents Cup. should just adopt Ryder Cup rules. Why this country has such an aversion to ties (eg. NHL) and insisting every sport adopt a playoff system (eg. Golf & Nascar) is beyond me. That said, I couldn't be more excited for Harding Park to be on display again. Jack and Gary were great but Couples and Norman will infuse some new life to the event. I have a feeling the World players are going to finally live up their potential next year and we better be ready!

Given that it's on the West Coast, TV times in East should permit early start to singles matches, so hopefully darkness won't be an issue. I still think its a terrible idea to eliminate half points in singles, I hadn't read that.

[BruceMGF]

I think the Presidents Cup. should just adopt Ryder Cup rules. Why this country has such an aversion to ties (eg. NHL) and insisting every sport adopt a playoff system (eg. Golf & Nascar) is beyond me.

I'm with you all the way on both of those. I stopped watching the NHL when the shootout came in.

It's not just the US anymore, though. Almost every knockout-style soccer event in Europe now goes straight to penalty kicks if they're tied (a common outcome in that sport) whereas they once scheduled a replay. (I think some English events still go to one replay only, then penalty kicks if the replay is tied. They used to just schedule another replay.)

That said, I couldn't be more excited for Harding Park to be on display again. Jack and Gary were great but Couples and Norman will infuse some new life to the event. I have a feeling the World players are going to finally live up their potential next year and we better be ready!

Maybe. It's easy to get fired up on behalf of "The USA" or "Europe". Not so easy on behalf of "The Rest of the World".

Given that it's on the West Coast, TV times in East should permit early start to singles matches, so hopefully darkness won't be an issue. I still think its a terrible idea to eliminate half points in singles, I hadn't read that.

Actually, half-points are eliminated unless and until the Cup has been clinched. Then they can stop after 18.

[NM Golf]

I imagine the Presidents cup does its best to seperate itself as much as possible from its older, more important sibling the Ryder Cup. That being said they need to figure out how to make sure its not a tie.

Why this country has such an aversion to ties (eg. NHL) and insisting every sport adopt a playoff system (eg. Golf & Nascar) is beyond me.

You know what they say about ties....they're like kissing your sister. Ties blow, America likes a winner.

[BSweet]

They need to change the entire format of the President's cup. I understand that it's there so international players other than Europeans can be involved in team play. But why must everyone insist on beating us, the United States. The U.S. vs. the World. Come on now, the game of golf globalized to the point where I think we can have like a East vs. West showdown. That would be interesting.

[Lefty731PM]

But why must everyone insist on beating us, the United States. The U.S. vs. the World. Come on now, the game of golf globalized to the point where I think we can have like a East vs. West showdown. That would be interesting.

Maybe it's because you so rarely play international team sporting competitions. You have the ludicrously titled "World Series" baseball and your NBA and NFL competitions are so huge that specatators are happy to have allegiance to a particular town or team. This is why the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are so great. International competition is inspiring and gets everyone together. Other than the Olympics, the USA mainly plays against itself in team sports. Other countries are playing Test matches all the time in cricket, Rugby, (field) hockey, netball and other sports. I'd be glad that you get another chance to feel a bit of national spirit on the sporting field which isn't all about money and business

[BruceMGF]

Other than the Olympics, the USA mainly plays against itself in team sports. Other countries are playing Test matches all the time in cricket, Rugby, (field) hockey, netball and other sports.

Hmmm. We've had test matches against Canada in cricket for decades. We're in the qualifying for the World Cup in cricket, but have never qualified as far as I know. We did put in a bid for hosting some of the games in the last World Cup, which was in the West Indies - a site in Florida. We were turned down.

We've been in the rugby World Cup a couple times. Field hockey and netball? Not sure about those. We compete in international team basketball, baseball, ice hockey, tennis (Davis Cup and Fed Cup), and, yes, golf competitions. We've done much better in those sports than in cricket or rugby. And as you mentioned, the Olympics, where we're frequently the overall leader in medals. So we have some things like NASCAR other countries don't do. So what? How many countries play Aussie rules football, sumo wrestling, or hurling? EDIT - Correction: the cricket matches against Canada are classified as "international," not "test" matches. Those are played by a small handful of countries, not by everybody-but-the-USA.

[Lefty731PM]

Hmmm. We've had test matches against Canada in cricket for decades. We're in the qualifying for the World Cup in cricket, but have never qualified as far as I know. We did put in a bid for hosting some of the games in the last World Cup, which was in the West Indies - a site in Florida. We were turned down.

I am pretty sure that the majority of Americans are really only interested in basketball, football and baseball, perhaps hockey. I don't think a cricket match against Canada would occupy much column space in the newspapers. I agree with you, basically, but I'm talking about events that really fire the imagination of an entire nation in the same direction. Your superbowl NBA playoffs and a few other events do, but not everyone is going for the same team. Tennis and golf are seen as rich guys' games but I'll bet most

Americans were happy to see the USA whip the Europeans last week. The way a whole nation (irrespective of size) gets behind a team is a great thing. You would not believe the atmosphere in an Australia v NZ rugby match. So - I'm saying that you should enjoy the opportunity to go for a US team in a match against another team.

[erova]

Maybe it's because you so rarely play international team sporting competitions. You have the ludicrously titled "World Series" baseball and your NBA and NFL competitions are so huge that specatators are happy to have allegiance to a particular town or team... Other than the Olympics, the USA mainly plays against itself in team sports...

This summary was true about 20 years ago, but today MLB and the NBA are global leagues that just happen to be located in the US and Canada.

Simply because a team puts "San Antonio" on the front of their jersey doesn't mean Manu Ginobli and Tony Parker grew up on the River Walk. Just if a baseball team doesn't play another team in Barcelona comprised of players from the US, Japan, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Canada doesn't make it any less global than if it's the Royals vs. the Mariners, except for the demographic of the fans showing up a the stadium.

[Kevin04]

Imagine a golfing continent world cup, it could be a hit.

Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, Asia and Africa. I think we have enough pro golfers to represent the 6 areas and it would be a really interesting event but with the Presidents Cup, Walker Cup, Ryder Cup, World Cup of Golf etc maybe there is no market for this.

Could turn into a 7 day event or so with a 2 groups of 3, and the winners meeting the final, the runners up for 3rd place and the bottom 3 for the wooden spoon.

Similar to the Ryder Cup, possibly fourballs then singles after, played over 1 day though. It would be also interesting for Europeans and The US to play other teams and a chance to see Els, Scott, Romero & Choi.