When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
We should probably leave the last word on the Tiger selection by Captain Couples to Geoff Ogilvy, who summed it up best during a pre-Presidents Cup teleconference call today:
In an unbylined Herald Sun story, Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples is quoted responding to Greg Norman's multiple comments about the Tiger Woods captain's selection.
"I have no problem with Greg. He can say whatever he wants, but I'm not really into that. I play golf with my clubs,'' Couples said.
"Robert Allenby is his (captain's) pick, and Aaron Baddeley, and they're Australians and I think they're great picks.
"But I think I can sit here and say Robert Allenby hasn't won a tournament in 10 years.''
Cat fight!
Allenby's last US PGA Tour win was 10 years ago in the Pennsylvania Classic, although he has seven wins elsewhere since then, including Australian's Triple Crown - the Masters, PGA and Open - in 2005.
"The truth is, Tiger Woods is the greatest or the second-greatest player to ever play, and he's going to be down in Australia, and I hope he plays up to his capabilities,'' Couples said.
"But I think Tiger is used to getting picked on, and it's irrelevant to me.''
Well, not entirely irrelevant.
Seth Soffian reports on yet another motivational quote (I've lost track!) for Tiger, once again courtesy of International Presidents Cup team captain Greg Norman:
“I wouldn’t have (picked Woods),” Norman said during a press conference today to announce the field for the Shootout at host venue Tiburon Golf Club in North Naples. “I think Keegan Bradley was much more deserving.
“I can understand the name of a Tiger Woods and his history of what he’s done on the golf course. But I pick the guys who I think are ready to get in there and play and have performed to the highest levels leading up to it.”
I was too busy with Tiger stuff last week to notice the life-changing announcement that Sun Mountain would be outfitting the U.S. Presidents Cup team with rainsuits. John Strege reported on the comeback for the company that provided the infamous leaking suits to the 2010 U.S. Ryder Cup team, leading to a blame game that helped distract everyone from Captainness Lisa Pavin's lavender Richie Cunningham sweaters.
It's been so long since we've had a wealth of riches for an American team, that the decision Fred Couples faces before Tuesday's announcement is actually not a fun one for the Captain.
Bernie McGuire reports that 2012 European Ryder Cup Captain Jose Maria Olazabal believes the Seve Trophy date will change in the future to compete with the Presidents Cup (!?) but that either way, players should have showed this year as a tribute to Seve Ballesteros.
As rivetting as it was to learn from Jimmy Roberts that Camilo Villegas banged his fist on a table upon learning his rejection by the ShotLink algorithms at Sunday's BMW Championship, it turns out that the Presidents Cup points battles on both sides made for far more compelling reading.As Tiger drops to 29th in Presidents Cup points and 44th in the official world golf ranking,
12th, Steve Elling points out that a name lost in the Presidents Cup shuffle is Bill Haas, who just dropped out of the top 10 this week (to 12th). And his dad is an assistant captain to Fred Couples.
An unbylined AP report was the first to report Fred Couples' answer to a simple question at the Boeing Classic: Tiger's one of his two Presidents Cup picks. Here's the exchange:
Q. A question on The Presidents Cup. Do you talk to Tiger ever? You mention that you'd like to see him play. Where does that stand as far as your thoughts on it?
FRED COUPLES: Yeah, well, I mean, it stands where I told him that he's going to be on the team. I kind of told ‑‑ the question came up, and there's no reason for me to wait until September 26th to pick Tiger. He's the best player in the world forever. I mean, you guys ‑‑ is he playing well right now, no. He almost won Augusta three months, four months ago, so you don't do that by playing poor golf.
Jason Sobel shreds Couples for the decision to add Woods and also suspects the PGA Tour is happy with the selection.
By picking Tiger – who ranks smack dab between Kevin Na and D.A. Points at 28th in the current standings – Freddie won’t necessarily afford his team the best chance to win, but certainly ensures the competition will receive more attention than had he selected any of the aforementioned players.
And therein lies the dirty little secret about the Presidents Cup.
While the Ryder Cup is a storied, ferocious rivalry between country and continent, its less embattled younger cousin is more about pomp and circumstance, professional golf’s version of a hit-and-giggle festival at your local country club.
Don’t believe it? Just ask Lanny Wadkins, who once said of the Presidents Cup, "Why would I want to travel halfway around the world to play a bunch of guys from Orlando?"
Farrell Evans also suspects "The Man" got to Couples, but he still criticizes the choice in a letter to the Captain.
I get nepotism, cronyism and all the ways that we help out our friends and family. But what I don't get is why you would pick a guy who has been hurt for most of the year and who has played only eight PGA Tour events and had two top-10s.
Do you want the players to resent Tiger more than they already do? Golf is supposed to be the ultimate meritocracy. So what do you say to Mark Wilson and Keegan Bradley, who have both won twice this year, if you leave them off the team? One of those guys is not going to make the cut.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
