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TOUR REPORT
OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE
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FALL 2015
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obsports.com
Mission accomplished.
Starting with this year's event,
total points available are reduced
from 34 to 30. Five four-ball matches
and five foursomes matches will be
played Thursday and Friday, down
from six and six. Four four-ball
matches and four foursomes matches
will be played on Saturday, rather
than five and five. Each player must
participate in two of the four ses-
sions, with every player competing
in the Sunday singles.
Previously, team members were re-
quired to play in at least three of four
four-ball/foursomes matches. Any
match that finishes all-square after 18
holes will be deemed a draw, as in
the Ryder Cup, and a half-point will
be awarded to each team.
The order of the matches on
Thursday and Friday will be Nick
Price's choice. Previously, it was pre-
determined. What it all
means is this: There's
greater interest for fans
because of a new abun-
dance of second-guess-
ing opportunities.
Which players do you leave out in
the tightened format? Will the Cap-
tain's format choice on Thursday and
Friday mean a lot or a little? Ulti-
mately, the goal is to make the results
over the first three days close enough
so that Sunday's singles will be
must-see TV in the height of the foot-
ball season.
3
Good morning, Korea! For
the first time ever, the Presi-
dents Cup heads to Asia,
specifically to the golf-mad
nation of South Korea. This is the
right move for Tim Finchem and the
Presidents Cup, as it underscores
how astonishingly global the game
has become.
Korea doesn't need the Presidents
Cup to foster a golf explosion. It al-
ready boasts a slew of first-class
courses, a handful of world-class
male players, and a near-domination
of the LPGA Tour.
Still, the event will offer a wonder-
ful opportunity to expose a re-
spected, prosperous Asian
democracy to American audiences
and to showcase Seoul, one of the
world's great cities, for the first time
since the 1988 Summer Olympics.
And, credit Nick Price for adding
Sangmoon Bae to the International
team as a Captain's Pick.
Well back in the rankings at Num-
ber 25 (only the top 10 qualify auto-
matically), Bae has won on this
course before. Moreover, Price stated
that it was important to get a local
favorite on the team, so as to inject
fan and media support into the mix.
Unfortunately, it's not yet known
whether Bae will actually compete in
his home country, as he's due to
begin a mandatory two-year military
service stint. If Bae goes bye-bye to
the army, plug in whatever the Ko-
rean word for "bummer" would be.
4
The stars are aligned. Re-
gardless of whether you
savor the Presidents Cup
with the same tastiness that
you do the Ryder Cup, it's undeni-
able we'll get some great matchups,
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Let's count on seeing the head-to-head tussle that
everyone wants, Jordan Spieth vs. Jason Day.
fi
Jason Day
