Couples, Norman put their mark on Presidents Cup team

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-04-02

During its formative years, the Presidents Cup was put together with a collection of the best professional golfers in the United States and the rest of the world. The rosters of those teams changed slightly each time the competition was held every other year. What remained constant, however, was the captaincy of each team. Legendary names like Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Venturi, Thomson, Graham were always at the helm, lending added legitimacy to an event that was trying to scratch out its’ place in golf while being played in years opposite of the Ryder Cup. And while the game of catch-up the Presidents Cup is playing with the Ryder Cup will never result in the two events being equal, the Presidents Cup is quickly getting to be a “must-watch” event. And when the 2009 event is played Oct. 8-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco, it promises to be another interesting four days.

What will make this year’s festivities different, however, is that the guys driving around the course in the captains’ carts won’t be of the Palmer, Nicklaus, Player ilk. Assuming those roles this year will be Fred Couples for the United States, Greg Norman for the Internationals.

The quiet, smooth-swinging Couples and the brash, cocky Norman will usher in a new era and the founding father captains would not believe how things have changed for these guys. Want some examples? How about the fact that as last year’s Ryder Cup was playing out, Couples and Tiger Woods were texting each other?

“I text Tiger a lot,” Couples said Wednesday during a press conference featuring the two captains. “We give each other a hard time and a couple times last year he was asking me if I really thought I wanted him on my team, considering how well the Ryder Cup team was playing. I texted him after he won Sunday and he sent one back saying, “Yeah thanks, I get a lot of Ryder Cup points.”

Couples’ task of communicating with his team is considerably easier than Norman’s. “Most of the guys on my team are in the United States and I’m good friends with,” Couples said. “It’s a little different with Greg.” Norman’s based in Florida, but very few of his potential team players do. Being the 2000-ish sort of guy that he is, Norman has set up a website by which his players can communicate with him.

“What I am doing right now is the direct confidential communication route,” he said. “I will set up a direct website in my office that these players can write to me, and it's confidential, nobody reads it. I get it and that's it. I respond to them just saying any information or history that you've had from past experiences in the Presidents Cup, let me know. It's a great outlet for them because a lot of guys, when we play on a team as Freddie said, we might get bitchy with each other as team members saying what, why are we doing this or that. Very seldom could you go as an outlet and say to the Captain, "Boy, I don't want to do this. Give me a break. I need to go to bed early. I need to put my feet up. I've got something wrong with me."

The captains agree that it’s awfully early to get too involved in what’s going on with the players as it impacts the teams for October. They get information from the PGA Tour every couple weeks, giving them all the information they could possibly want … and much, much more. They’re more than willing to wait two, even three more months before seriously getting involved, although, c’mon guys, let’s get serious. How many sleepless nights and pounding headaches are there going to be involved? The U.S. team, as the points are stacked today, would jammed with Ryder Cup veterans. There’s no shortage of those on the International team, either.

The intrigue will comes as the season wears on and the play of guys like Nick Watney, Camilo, Villegas and some other of the young guns are able to put any pressure on the established veterans.

It’s really a simple thing: Play well and you get to represent your country in the fall. If you don’t, enjoy football season.

UNITED STATES
1 Phil Mickelson 12,217,604
2 Tiger Woods 11,452,667
3 Kenny Perry 8,655,603
4 Steve Stricker 7,363,150
5 Justin Leonard 6,622,478
6 Anthony Kim 6,111,166
7 Sean O'Hair 6,103,189
8 Stewart Cink 6,084,621
9 Zach Johnson 6,005,540
10 Nick Watney 5,832,982
11Jim Furyk 5,161,657

INTERNATIONALS

1 Geoff Ogilvy 295.28
2 Vijay Singh 287.39
3 Camilo Villegas 243.71
4 Ernie Els 224.12
5 Mike Weir 178.77
6 K.J. Choi 168.63
7 Retief Goosen 190.11
8 Adam Scott 153.28
9 Jeev M. Singh 212.93
10 Robert Allenby 176.65
11 Trevor Immelman 150.52

Start a Feedback Thread Or Talk About This Article

About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

Mike's Most Recent Features

Will Michelle Wie now go to the next level? - I can’t say that I’m a huge Michelle Wie fan.

She’s a gifted golfer and, even at 20 years old, has shown glimpses of the talent we’ve heard about for the last 10 years or more. So I do have t

Some familiar names fail to keep PGA Tour cards for 2010 - The 2009 “regular season” on the PGA Tour is over.

So is the Fall Series, the add-on to that regular season, made up of tournaments with lesser purses but, at the same time, provide those who

Mickelson sets stage for dramatic 2010 - Soooooooooo, while those at the pinnacle of the PGA Tour’s food chain finish off their 2009 season with a lucrative week in China, those desperately trying to get a foot in the door at the bottom end

Tour players forced to mingle ... and don't like it - I’ve said this before and probably will say it many, many more times.

In a lot of ways, I respect professional golfers much more than a lot of other athletes in the “play for pay” business. A

GolfCourt anyone? An idea with real 'net' merit - Look around your town or city and if you don’t readily find a tennis court that’s greatly underused or overgrown, you’re in a rare locale.

Those tennis courts are the target of a creation kno

Smith adds to Western Pa. golf lore with Mid-Amateur triumph - Pardon me while I wax parochial for a few words.

I am a life-long resident of western Pennsylvania, an area of the world that lacks the sunshine and warm weather of some parts of the world, b

Thoughts to live by when planning a golf trip - It’s my opinion, and one that’s widely shared among those who have ever participated in a golf trip, that what happens in the days and months prior to the trip itself is critical to the success of the

Woods perfect, U.S. wins President Cup - Sometimes, things are almost too good to be true.

I mean, seriously. The world’s best player, who took a long time to warm up to these team championships, providing the Presidents Cup-winning

U.S. leads Presidents Cup ... but not by much - Two days into the eighth edition of the Presidents Cup, things are just about where they should be.

The United States team has a 6 ½-5 ½ lead over the Internationals, built in large part in t

Games can add to golf trip excitement - In Part I of this series, I regaled you with a Reader’s Digest version of a four-man golf trip to central Florida, a trip that had only a bit of drama and was pretty much straight golf. No games, no b

Home - More Golf News & Reviews
Start a Feedback Thread Or Talk About This Article

Didn't find what you need? Try our site search:

Golfsmith Tennis - Best Brands, Best Prices