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All American
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THE COURSE: Situated on a gently rolling peninsula surrounded by the shores of Lake Merced in San Francisco's southwestern corner, Harding Park Golf Course has reclaimed its stature as one of the great public golfing experiences in the United States. Beginning in the spring of 2002, an extensive improvement process was undertaken to restore Harding's famed layout to world-class standards.
THE TEAMS:
USA: Captain Fred Couples, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O'Hair, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Lucas Glover, Hunter Mahan
INTERNATIONAL: Captain Greg Norman, Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camillo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang, Tim Clark, Ryo Ishikawa, Adam Scott
FORMAT:
Thurs: Foursomes (alternate shot)
Fri: Four-ball (better ball)
Sat: Foursomes morning and Four-ball afternoon
Sun: Individual
http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/presidentscup/
This should be a closely contested Cup as the International team is really good. I would not be suprised to see the US lose this one, but I think the US edged out a win 18 1/2 to 15 1/2.  10/6/2009 2:27:53 PM
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Ribs
All American
10713 Posts
user info
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Alternate Shot Pairings this afternoon are:
Mike Weir, Tim Clark vs Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson
Match preview: As a football fan, Couples is familiar with winning a coin toss and deferring to the second half, which is exactly what he did in this situation, allowing Norman to name his initial pairing first. (As a ripple effect of that strategy, Couples was better able to dictate his lineup for later in the day.) When the Shark named his pea-shooting pairing of Clark and Weir -- each of whom rank 167th or lower in driving distance on the PGA Tour -- the U.S. skipper went with his big-bombing boys in response.
"Anthony Kim and Phil played at the Ryder Cup and enjoyed it," Couples said, "so that was a pretty easy one."
On a 7,137-yard course at which long hitters found success when a tourney was last played here in 2005, their length should matter. Despite the U.S. pair's 0-1-1 foursomes record at Valhalla, that advantage should be too much for the International duo to overcome.
Adam Scott, Ernie Els vs Hunter Mahan, Sean O'Hair
Match preview: Scott's struggles have been chronicled throughout the year, as he has failed to finish better than T-33 on U.S. soil since January. Even so, Norman named his countryman as a wild-card selection, a pick that has been the subject of much controversy ever since. Don't be surprised, however, to see that risk pay off this week.
"They are both great friends, and they both wanted to play with each other," Norman said. "They have got compatible games in a lot of ways. Ernie used to play the Titleist ball, and Adam plays the Titleist ball. So a lot of that comes into play. So that was a no-brainer for both of them. [Els] said, 'Look, I want Scotty.' So if he wants Scotty, he's going to get Scotty."
Meanwhile, Mahan and O'Hair each reported losing money to de facto team assistant Michael Jordan in a Monday practice round match. That can't be a good sign.
Vijay Singh, Robert Allenby vs Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink
Match preview: Interesting stat of the day: Singh has played in every edition of the Presidents Cup; Allenby has competed in four of the past seven. Yet they never have been paired together. Shouldn't be an issue for the two veterans, although their recent play might be; each failed to qualify for the Tour Championship this season.
They will face the winners of the year's second and third major championships, a couple of guys from down South who are friends, play a similar style and golf ball, and have competed together before, albeit in a four-ball loss two years ago. Conventional wisdom says to stick with the hot hands in what should be a very closely contested match.
Angel Cabrera, Camilo Villegas vs Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson
Match preview: Much has been made of the several languages spoken in the International team room, but Cabrera and Villegas -- the squad's two Spanish-speaking players -- should have no problem communicating in this match. (In fact, they might understand each other better than the U.S. duo, given that Perry has been the subject of lighthearted ridicule this week for his Kentucky accent.)
Another tough match to predict, though there is a glaring difference in the games of Perry and Johnson; the former averages 293.1 yards per drive, the latter 12 yards shorter. The X factor will be Villegas, who should thrive in this format. He often makes a bevy of birdies, but is undone by a big number or two in stroke-play rounds. Here, though, such foibles won't leave him in as much trouble.
Geoff Ogilvy, Ryo Ishikawa vs Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker
Match preview: We now bring you to our featured match of the day. Nothing against Stricker and Ogilvy -- two of the world's top 10 players -- but this one will garner attention for the presence of the current No. 1 player and an 18-year-old thought by many to be a future No. 1: Ishikawa.
How did Norman come to pair Ogilvy with the kid? That was simple.
"I asked him, 'Do you have any problems playing with Ryo?'" Norman said. "He said, 'I was going to tell you somewhere during the week before that I wanted to play with him,' so that was an easy one."
As for the U.S. duo, Woods and Stricker first told Couples of their wish to play together back at The Barclays in late August. They've seen enough of each other's games lately, having competed in seven total rounds together in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Tiger owns a 7-2-1 career Presidents Cup record in this format; don't be surprised if a win here locks in Stricker as his partner for three more matches.
Retief Goosen, Y.E. Yang vs Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard
Match preview: The anchor match, the only one of the six to include four major champions, should provide some fireworks. These are also four of the steadiest guys around, meaning lots of pars and halved holes in the alternate-shot format.
"You get two guys like a Jim Furyk and a Justin Leonard who live and die by very consistent and solid play," Couples explained. "They are a great team to put up."
They were paired for both foursomes matches back in 2003, compiling a 1-1-0 overall record, but at least have that experience to fall back on. As for the International twosome, each looked wiped at East Lake two weeks ago, finishing in the bottom third of the 30-man field. 10/8/2009 10:08:04 AM |
