SAN FRANCISCO -- The eighth Presidents Cup begins play Thursday afternoon at Harding Park Golf Club, but the action started Wednesday when team captains, American Fred Couples and International Greg Norman, matched twosomes for six first-round foursome matches.The alternate-shot competition will begin at 12:10 p.m. PDT with the International pairing of Canadian Mike Weir and South African Tim Clark taking on Americans Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson.
More Coverage: International Team Preview | Presidents Cup Notebook
Matches following are Aussie Adam Scott and South African Ernie Els facing Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair; Fijian Vijay Singh and Australian Robert Allenby taking on Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink; Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Columbia's Camilo Villegas vs. Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson; Aussie Geoff Ogilvy and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa facing Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker; and South African Retief Goosen and Korean Y.E. Yang drawing Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard.
The pairings process began with Norman announcing his first twosome and Couples answering with his team. The process was alternated until the six matches were complete.
"To be honest with you, Anthony Kim and Phil played at the Ryder Cup and enjoyed it," Couples said. "So that was a pretty easy one. We have two young guns, Hunter and Sean, who play a lot together. The list goes on and on."
The day's featured match is the American pairing of Woods and Stricker, the Nos. 1 and 2 ranked players in the world, going against Ogilvy and Ishikawa.
"We tried to get Hunter and Sean out. It's Sean's first Presidents Cup. Get them out early so they are not looking at the scoreboards, where emotionally guys are 2-up after four or down two. As for Tiger Woods, we felt like we wanted him in the four or five spot."
In Foursome Matches each team will play one ball, alternating shots until the hole is complete. Each teammate will hit a tee shot on every other hole.
Two years ago the U.S. jumped to a 5½-½ lead after the first day of play.
The U.S. leads the Presidents Cup 5-1-1.
"For our guys, the alternate shot, they basically came to me and told me who they wanted to play with, and that's how we did it," Couples said.
"The alternate shot is where people fit the schemes -- one guy who drives it a long way, maybe not as straight, the other guy doesn't mind playing out of the rough. Then you get two guys like a Jim Furyk and a Justin Leonard who live and die by very consistent and solid play. They are a great team to put up."
