Americans felt at home during Presidents Cup win

2007-10-01

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By Andrew Both PA SportsTicker Golf Writer

MONTREAL, Quebec (Ticker) -- The Presidents Cup is a highly contrived event, and the competition in Canada proved it.


Royal Montreal was the perfect venue for one team, but it wasn't the International side, which theoretically at least was playing at home.

Instead, it could hardly have been a better venue for the American players, who felt at home competing less than 100 miles from the United States border, on an American-style course with soft greens in front of extremely polite galleries.

The Canadian fans sent a loud and clear message that they did not particularly consider the International team their own, and nor is there any reason they should have.

Cobbling together a collection of players from all corners of the globe may be a convenient way to bring the world's best golfers together, but you could hardly blame the Canadian fans to being a little lukewarm in their support of a team that included just one player from their own country.

They cheered passionately in matches involving national hero Mike Weir, but for the most part watched the other matches with detached neutrality.

As Lorne Rubenstein wrote in the Globe and Mail Monday: "Who says the International team didn't win the Presidents Cup? Mike Weir beat Tiger Woods 1-up (on Sunday) and that's all the crowd cared about."

Truer words have rarely been written. As International assistant captain Ian Baker-Finch observed, the galleries were "a little more balanced than we would have cared for."

The fans were clearly more excited to see Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson than K.J. Choi and Nick O'Hern, not without reason, because it's not every day the world's best two players appear north of the border at the same time.

Nevertheless, after a week at Royal Montreal, the International players concluded that playing the Presidents Cup in Canada offered little, if any, advantage for the designated home team, and not just because of the crowds.

There was also the matter of the course set-up, which, if it didn't help the Americans, certainly didn't hurt them.

These factors provoked plenty of discussion in the International team room, which is why Ernie Els offered an unsolicited opinion at the post-tournament press conference.

Why, he asked rhetorically, does the International team have no say in where the events are being held in those years they move outside the United States?

It was a good question, but there is an obvious answer. The PGA Tour owns and operates the Presidents Cup, so it decides where it is played.

This is in contrast to the Ryder Cup, where the PGA of America decides the venue only when it is held in the U.S. It has no say in the European venue, because it does not have sole ownership.

Els observed that the two times the Internationals have avoided defeat, the event was held a long way from the U.S. in Australia in 1998 and South Africa in 2003.

"The two that we did well in were way south," said Els.

"The Americans need to get outside their comfort zone for us to do well," Els teammate Adam Scott added. "We need not be afraid of sending it down south, because that is an advantage for us."

The International players have no complaint about Royal Melbourne, the 2011 venue in Australia, but they want some say in where the biennial event is held on its subsequent visits outside the U.S. in 2015 and beyond.

Given that Australia and South Africa will continue to provide the majority of the International team in the foreseeable future, most want it to alternate between those countries.

They believe those two nations provide a huge edge for the Internationals, and not just because the players feel at home. Just as importantly, the Americans will have to deal with several things they didn't have to worry about in Canada flies, heat, jetlag and all sorts of other intangibles.

If the International players have any say in the course set-up, which they probably won't, the greens will be rock hard and the chipping areas closely mowed.

If the PGA Tour chooses another venue close to the U.S. for the 2015 event, don't be surprised if there is a huge outcry from the International players, perhaps even the threat of a boycott.

"I don't want to see it turn out like the world events, which are not," said Scott, referring to the World Golf Championships, three events held exclusively in the U.S. every year.

In an ideal world, an International body would be formed to choose the venue for the Presidents Cup when it travels outside the U.S. every four years, but this won't happen.

International captain Gary Player said he would like the event to visit China, India and even eastern Europe, although why you would play an event in Europe that Europeans are not even eligible for, is another matter.

As for China and India, it's all very well in theory to go there, but golfing minnow China is unlikely to have anyone on the 2015 International team, and there is no guarantee India will either.

Playing the Presidents Cup there without a local presence would present that same problem as having it in Canada.

Does anyone really think Chinese fans would cheer for Geoff Ogilvy against Tiger Woods any more than Canadian fans?

TRIVIA QUESTION: Where will the 2009 Presidents Cup be held?

TIGER SLAYER: The International team threw out Mike Weir to play Tiger Woods on Sunday, but it may have been a different story if the contest had been closer.

The other player given serious consideration to play Woods was Angel Cabrera, the U.S. Open champion who is the longest driver on tour.

In the end, though, captain Gary Player and assistant Ian Baker-Finch decided they needed Weir against Woods to raise the crowd to fever pitch.

And it worked, as an inspired Weir won, although it didn't make much difference in the big picture, because the U.S. needed to win only three of 12 singles matches to claim the cup, a feat it accomplished easily.

Player, by the way, is not expected to return for the 2009 competition. Expect Nick Price to be offered the captaincy.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: American Stewart Cink, after holing the putt that won the Presidents Cup - "We came in this week with a little score to settle in the international arena, and I think we showed we can play again."

TRIVIA ANSWER: Harding Park in San Francisco.