2011 Presidents Cup Discussion Thread

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by FLOG4

Euro's thrive on Ryder....Intl's could give two ####'s about Pres IMHO.....Like any rivalry....If one team continuously knocks the snot out of the other.....Is that a rivalry?

Therein lies the problem of the President's Cup. Only the US care as it is, to all intents and purposes, their glorified friendly for the Ryder Cup.

[jamo]

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to say that the live chat last night was a lot of fun. And it was great to see Tiger snipe some putts too. Good times.

I saw the highlights, those backflips were amazing! :-P

[iacas]

Originally Posted by The_Pharaoh

Therein lies the problem of the President's Cup. Only the US care as it is, to all intents and purposes, their glorified friendly for the Ryder Cup.

I don't think the U.S. cares any more than the Internationals. Unlike the Euros, almost all the International players are "PGA Tour" players. This, much more than the Ryder Cup, is like "Florida Residents vs. Florida Residents."

[deasy55]

The US are playing proudly for their country. The internationals are....doing what exactly?

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by deasy55

The US are playing proudly for their country. The internationals are....doing what exactly?

Playing proudly for their team .

The U.S.team is also playing for their team .

Playing for their "country"? Give me a break - only golf fans care.

The internationals have just as much pasion or drive or desire or whatever you want to call it.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by iacas

I don't think the U.S. cares any more than the Internationals. Unlike the Euros, almost all the International players are "PGA Tour" players. This, much more than the Ryder Cup, is like "Florida Residents vs. Florida Residents."

True. There's too much friendship involved. The US wins because they are quite clearly better man for man than the Internationals.

Led by Seve, the Ryder Cup became a real hate match when the Europeans joined. It became the European Tour v the PGA Tour. A real us v them encounter. It meant something to everyone involved. This is why, unlike most Europeans, I didn't get upset at the 'exaggerated' US celebrations in 1991 or in 1999 when the US team stormed the green after Justin's putt. By taking it so seriously, they provoked that reaction in the US contingent. It stank of double standards when the Europeans were all up in arms at the US behaviour.

[deasy55]

Fair enough..........

I completely disagree with you though. If you are playing in a sport where the leaderboard states your country rarther than your own name then you are therefore, by definition, playing for your country. It doesn't matter how many 'care' about it.

Originally Posted by Shorty

Playing proudly for their team.

The U.S.team is also playing for their team.

Playing for their "country"? Give me a break - only golf fans care.

The internationals have just as much pasion or drive or desire or whatever you want to call it.

[FLOG4]

When these groups of players get together and play on a team, they feel more responsibility to the team then to just themselves.  Golf is such an individual pursuit and that is a big part of why so many pro players have pursued the game.  They only have to rely on me/myself and I.  So when they are put into a team atmosphere and given the additional pressure of "The Team" they aren't properly prepared for that pressure. I don't believe there is any pressure from them to perform for their country.  I truely believe it is in support of their internal close group of team and associates. There's a World Match....It is 2 man teams representing each country....Has anyone ever followed it?  US has trouble getting anyone in their top 10 to play in it.  So from that angle I believe representing your country isn't where the pressure comes from. That's JMHO

[deasy55]

Just read this after posting the thread about it A lot of countries still have interest in it, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Italy etc all have their best teams out there. Gone are the days of Tiger and Duval winning it as World #1 and #2 though...

Originally Posted by FLOG4

There's a World Match....It is 2 man teams representing each country....Has anyone ever followed it?  US has trouble getting anyone in their top 10 to play in it.  So from that angle I believe representing your country isn't where the pressure comes from. That's JMHO

[Jmdmbike]

Fair enough..........

I completely disagree with you though. If you are playing in a sport where the leaderboard states your country rarther than your own name then you are therefore, by definition, playing for your country. It doesn't matter how many 'care' about it.

If it was one country against another, I could see it as playing for the flag. The President's Cup is not that. Neither is the Ryder Cup. The Olympics will be.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Jmdmbike

If it was one country against another, I could see it as playing for the flag. The President's Cup is not that. Neither is the Ryder Cup. The Olympics will be.

That'sright - and isn't it great that players from Korea or Argentina or whereever can aspire to play Presidents Cup?

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by deasy55

Just read this after posting the thread about it  A lot of countries still have interest in it, Germany, Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Italy etc all have their best teams out there. Gone are the days of Tiger and Duval winning it as World #1 and #2 though...

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLOG4

There's a World Match....It is 2 man teams representing each country....Has anyone ever followed it?  US has trouble getting anyone in their top 10 to play in it.  So from that angle I believe representing your country isn't where the pressure comes from. That's JMHO

Do you remember the years when Freddie and Davis would treat most courses like excecutive 9 holers driving any par 4 < 320 yards?

Anyway, the Ryder Cup was pretty much a non-event for a generation too. Then when Seve and company from the Continent got to play and it became competitive, then it seemed to matter. I thought the President's Trophy was great this year.  It was interesting and not so much faux patriotic BS for those without a horse in the race to sift through.

[The_Pharaoh]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

Do you remember the years when Freddie and Davis would treat most courses like excecutive 9 holers driving any par 4 < 320 yards?

Exactly. They won it 4 times in a row before they got 'bored' and decided to let other US players play in it. Watching them in the one in Spain in 1992 was amazing. They were streets ahead of the field.

[TheGeekGolfer]

I was just curious what people thought of Fred Couples and his pairings of Watson / Simpson and Mahan / Haas?  I found it interesting because Simpson lost to Watson earlier in the year in a playoff and Mahan also lost to Haas in a playoff.  Some people might have some bad feelings having lost in a playoff, but it seemed to fuel them, they played off each other very well in the team competitions.

[clubchamp]

Originally Posted by TheGeekGolfer

I was just curious what people thought of Fred Couples and his pairings of Watson / Simpson and Mahan / Haas?  I found it interesting because Simpson lost to Watson earlier in the year in a playoff and Mahan also lost to Haas in a playoff.  Some people might have some bad feelings having lost in a playoff, but it seemed to fuel them, they played off each other very well in the team competitions.

How can you be mad at someone for beating you fair and square or hitting an amazing shot to beat you. These guys are professionals they have to deal with losing like a professional they get don't angry at the winner when they lose.

[mvmac]

Some pics of Prez Cup player's wives and girlfriends

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by mvmac

Some pics of Prez Cup player's wives and girlfriends

Charl and Adam are lucky men

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

Charl and Adam are lucky men

Tim Clark did OK too, for a little penguin dude!