The Common Golfer

The Presidents Cup has always struggled to be as important as the Ryder Cup, and now thanks to Greg Norman, it struggles to be relevant at all.  Yesterday, Fred Couples and Greg Norman announced their captain’s picks.  Couples selected Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan (statistically 1st and 3rd in the points after the 10 automatic selections), and Norman selected Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott.

I know what you’re thinking.  Is that the same Adam Scott who’s ranked 53rd in the world? Yes it is.  Is that the same Adam Scott who’s missed 10 cuts out of 18 events? Yep.  Same guy.  Is that also that guy that didn’t have enough FedEx points to even make it to the second event in the playoffs? You get the point.

In my opinion, I don’t see how this can be looked at as anything short of a mockery of golf.  I don’t mean to pile the hate on Scott; as Norman put it, “When you look back a year ago, Adam was the No. 3 player in the world. So everybody goes through a slump.”  However, the key word is slump – something Scott is still in the middle of, and likely will still be having next month during the Presidents Cup!  There are quite a few well-deserving players that are playing better than Scott right now – actually, I think I’d even qualify as playing better than Scott but unfortunately I’m from the US.

People defending Norman’s picks (if there are any out there), will point out that Scott was 14th in the international standings.  It’s a valid point, but that is almost entirely due to his great play last year.  And really, when you look at it, Norman’s pick of Ishikawa was pretty questionable.  However, I think it’s a very smart move to capitalize on the growth potential in Asia for the game of golf (especially on the heals of Yang’s major victory).

“Maybe somewhat unexpected. Obviously it’s been a tough year,” Scott said. “But I really am humbled. I feel like I can contribute points and contribute in the team room, as well.”  I just hope Adam didn’t have to cancel any vacation plans with Kate Hudson!

On Sunday, the top 10 players for both Presidents Cup teams were finalized.  Now all that remains are the two captains’ picks for each side.  The matches are just around the corner, from October 8-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco, California.  Captains Fred Couples and Greg Norman will announce their captains’ picks on September 8.

The American team players so far are:  Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard.  The International team players so far are:  Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang and Tim Clark.

The American team players are determined by PGA Tour earnings over the past two years, with 2009 earnings worth double.  The International players are determined based on world ranking.  Couples has already said that Hunter Mahan will be one of his two picks.  Norman has made no indication as to who he may select.

I’m sure I hold a slight bias, just by being American, but it looks to me like the American team should be the heavy favorite in October.  Besides the obvious inclusion of Tiger Woods on the American team, Stricker, Johnson, and Perry have all been having great years.  When I look at the International players, there are a lot of big names on the team, but only a few of them have been playing consistently great golf this season.

After his Friday round at the PGA Championship, Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples announced that regardless of the final points standings, he will be naming Hunter Mahan to his team.  At the conclusion of the PGA Championship, the top 10 players in the standings automatically are named to the Presidents Cup team (Mahan is currently 12th).  In addition, Couples gets to announce two additional captain’s picks on September 8.

“I’m going to pick Hunter even if he doesn’t make it [on points],” Couples said. “I guarantee that one. He plays good every week.”  With one pick remaining, Couples will likely have to choose between Anthony Kim, Lucas Glover, and Justin Leonard.  Couples also said Brian Gay and David Toms are both in the running, but would have to move up in the standings this week to have a better chance.