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TOUR REPORT
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5
5
EXECUTIVE
POWER
reasons you
should care
about the
presIdents cup
BY joE passoV
T
his being an odd-numbered year, the neon-flashing professional team com-
petition is the Presidents Cup. Like the Ryder Cup, its elder, more presti-
gious, even-yeared counterpart, the Presidents Cup features 12 players
from the U.S. against 12 players from somewhere else. In this case, the op-
posing players are from the rest of the world, except Europe. Unlike the Ryder Cup,
however, it's been a long time since the U.S. lost – 1998 to be precise, back when they
played this event in even-numbered years. Can the International team turn the tide in
Korea this October? Here are five reasons we should care.
1
Will the U.S. Dominance Finally
End? Not since Tiger Woods and
Ernie Els dueled in the gloaming in
2003 at South Africa's Fancourt
Links, when the team match ended in a 17-17
tie, has the International team even sniffed a
victory. This could be the year the U.S. finally
falters.
On paper, we still favor the U.S. twelve.
The Yanks have the edge in experience,
depth, chemistry, and talent, though at Ryder
Cup time, that hasn't always mattered. How-
ever, don't discount the International squad's
chances.
They have a loyal and popular captain in
Nick Price, they have a trio of South
Africans – Louis Ooosthuizen, Branden
Grace, and Charl Schwartzel – who are pals
and who seemed to be in the hunt at every
2015 major, they have the incomparable Jason
Day, and they have a home country hero in
Sangmoon Bae.
2
Format Fall-out. Following a near-
mutiny in the spring of 2015 by the
Internationals' top stars, Captain
Nick Price had no choice but to
badger PGA Tour Commissioner Tim
Finchem until the latter relented and
changed the format of the competition.
The Internationals argued that with their
inferior depth, the Presidents Cup would
never be as competitive as it needed to be un-
less changes to the format were made, no-
tably reducing the number of overall matches
to bring it in step with the Ryder Cup setup.
