For the last big event of the 2009 season, the Presidents Cup gave us more drama than the score might appear. A captain's pick failing to win a point (Gasp!). An 18-year-old rookie stealing the show for the losing team (Wow!). And, as you probably expected, the number one golfer in the world doing exactly what he does, week in and week out. So who left Harding Park a winner, and who will look back at this event wishing it never happened?
Winners
Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker -- Sure, it almost seems lame to praise Tiger for doing things we've come to expect, but at the team events over the years, he's been anything but dominant. That was, until he showed up at Harding Park, and Fred Couples paired him with the equally studly Stricker, who at times during the week, outplayed Woods.
Tiger seemed to find an equilibrium in Stricker, who rolls the ball as good as anyone in the world, and during the Saturday matches, was making bombs from Monterrey Peninsula. This duo will most likely be paired next year at the Ryder Cup (that is, unless Corey Pavin doesn't own a television), and unless something happens over the next year, it will be more of the same.
Tiger became the first golfer since 1998 at the Presidents Cup to go 5-0, and Stricker's four points came when the match was still in question. Maybe the best part about watching Stricker and Tiger play together for three days? They had a helluva good time, and it was fun to watch. Ryo Ishikawa -- The kid just turned 18, and showed up in San Francisco the youngest member ever of either Presidents Cup teams. What did that get him? Tiger and Stricker, in the first round. Ishikawa and Geoff Ogilvy lost that match, but the Japanese phenom went 3-1 the rest of the week, tying Ernie Els for most wins of any person on the International squad.
If you don't think Ryo (it's pronounced Re-Yo this week) has a bright future in this game, take the sunglasses off. He has that calm, collected demeanor that all the superstars possess, and he can really roll the rock on the greens when he takes his time over the ball. The one bright spot for Greg Norman was this captain's pick came through in a big way, and pairing him with PGA champion Y.E. Yang turned out to be a successful duo.
Harding Park -- I'm not sure the municipal golf course in San Francisco will be the right fit for a U.S. Open or PGA Championship, but for match play it was absolutely phenomenal.
The setup (which I criticized last week) was impeccable, starting and ending with eagle-friendly par-5s. The first hole was really a good way to get the players going, forcing them to make a birdie or risk falling 1-down early. Along with that, there were two par-4s that were driveable -- including the 17th, that had everything from 20-foot eagle putts to the Tiger fist pump to balls being lost in the tall Cypress trees right of the green.
I thought not only did Harding Park look great, but the set-up was one to brag about, and Royal Melbourne will have a lot to live up to if it wants to match this gem in the City by the Bay.
Losers
Lucas Glover -- The one blemish on the American team's win was the play of U.S. Open champion (And captain's pick), Glover. He was the only red, white and blue clad golfer that didn't win a match, and his 0-3-1 record was third worst of all the players this year.
Fred Couples paired Glover with Stewart Cink, and even when Cink had it going, he was still having to carry Glover, who doesn't look exactly like backpacking a feather. It's a team event, and as long as the team wins, everything is forgotten, but Glover will be a tough sale as a captain's pick in the coming years with this record.
Adam Scott -- Oh, it started off so well. Scott, the Australian captain's pick that has had an absolutely atrocious 2009, won his first match of the week, a 2-up victory with Els over Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair that had people singing Scott's praises. That was the high point of his week. The low point was anything and everything after.
Scott went 0-4-0 the rest of the cup highlighted by a 4-and-3 shellacking by Cink, where Adam only made one birdie on his final ten holes. The crazy part about it, was at times, you would have thought he found his game. He hit some clutch shots in the team events, but his putter tended to fail him and his feel shots around the green were abysmal. This year will be one to forget for Scott, and I for one was hoping the Presidents Cup would be a little glimmer of hope for him heading into 2010. After Thursday, I was hopeful. After Sunday, I'm worried it might take a long time for him to return to the form we were used to.
Camilo Villegas -- When you're the only golfer the entire week to not earn anything, not even a halve, you probably deserve to fall on this list. Villegas, for all his flashy swings and spidermaning, was the American punching bag in San Fran. His 0-3 record during the team events was one thing, but his loss to Mahan in the first match on Sunday was a door slamming for the International team, in a way.
They needed to get off to a hot start to have a chance to overtake the Americans, and Villegas losing that match (to a sneaky hot-golfing Mahan) gave them little hope of coming through in 2009. Villegas was the first golfer from Colombia ever to play in the Presidents Cup, and it appears they're still searching for the first ever Colombian Presidents Cup point. At least the clothes designers remembered to make him a special painters cap for the tournament. Don't want him feeling uncomfortable
Other Winners -- Phil Mickelson, Couples, Mahan, and Anthony Kim.
Other Losers -- Michael Jordan for breaking a town ordinance on smoking on public courses. Retief Goosen, Angel Cabrera and people that can't figure out how to silence their cell phones.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Just like the liberal idiots in SF. It is really bad when you can't smoke a cigar on a dang golf course.
Bet they would wet their drawers if I were to get a good chew of Levi Garret and spit some juice on the grass.
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others" a quote from George Orwell's animal farm. Seems appropriate when discussing some people of privilege nowadays.
Shane Bacon...with this article...you must not "have a TV in your house!" You put Phil in the also mentioned area of your post. What the heck were you watching!? Lefty wasone of about three players that just dominated play those four days. He carried all three players that he had as partners. Not only that, he requested AK and O'Hair to be his partners...when they weren't exactly having a banner year. O'Hair couldn't be more grateful when giving kudos to Phil for building his confidence and put
his putting on track...let alone Lefty playing some of the best golf of any of the participants! I'll support your posts...but, please give acknowledgement where it is definately due!