Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
For a Team Captain, picking players who have not made the team on merit is a daunting task. It’s one of those situations where if the pick plays well, you look like a genius, and if they don’t, you look like an idiot! There have been some picks just like that throughout the years of team play. People tend to frown on choices where the player is a good friend of the captain, but when Tom Watson picked friend Raymond Floyd, Ray played great and made Tom look good. Poor Lanny Watkins got all sorts of criticism when Curtis Strange lost all his matches after Lanny picked his buddy in 1995! Thanks to Alex Myers of Golf Digest for putting this interesting list together. We all love the Ryder, Presidents, and Solheim Cup matches, and some of these pictures brought back great memories, even in the years the USA lost!
The Good The Bad and The Ugly in Captain’s Picks!
Davis Love III’s selections (so far) have been pretty conventional, but that hasn’t always been the case with captain’s picks through the years.
Raymond Floyd (1993 Ryder Cup)
Tom Watson tabbed Floyd, 51, as the oldest captain’s pick in Ryder Cup history. The wily vet justified the selection by going 3-1 and helping lead the U.S. to a one-point win at The Belfry.
Cannon/Getty Images)
Curtis Strange (1995 Ryder Cup)
Fellow former Wake Forest golfer Lanny Wadkins picked Strange for the team despite Strange not having won a PGA Tour event in more than six years. The move backfired as Strange went 0-3 at Oak Hill and the U.S. lost by a point, which better explains his pose in this photo.
Paul Azinger (2000 Presidents Cup)
Despite being 24th in the Presidents Cup standings, Azinger was picked by Ken Venturi. “He’s a leader, he’s a team man, he’s a wonderful match player,” Venturi said. “I feel this could be his swan song, and I’ll get more than 100 percent from him.” Azinger went 1-2, but the U.S. won easily. Of course, he proved that leadership at the 2008 Ryder Cup as the U.S. captain.
Sang-Moon Bae should play for S Korea in the 2016 Olympics!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
It was poignant watching the South Korean Pro golfer, Sang-Moon Bae, compete in the Presidents Cup in his native country.
Bae has won 2 tournaments on the PGA Tour and has earned over $5 million. He has also won several tournaments on the Asian and Japan Golf Tours. Bae has his green card to work in the USA, but he did not change his citizenship as other Korean players did. South Korea has a mandatory military service of 2 years for all males aged 18-35 years, and Sang-Moon has been ordered to report for duty!
Earlier this year, Sang-Moon fought his government in court for an extension to his travel visa and avoided a 2-year interruption in a career that is continuing to be very successful. He lost his appeal!
I can’t believe that South Korea won’t back down on this decision, which means that their country’s star golfer will not represent them on the big stage at the 2016 Olympics.
Here’s my suggestion to the S Korean Government. (like they would listen)
“Why punish an S Korean citizen who decided to keep his loyalty to his country instead of becoming an American Citizen like the rest of the S Koreans who wanted to avoid military training? Let him represent his country on the PGA Tour and in the 2016 Olympic Games, and bring pride and honor to his country.”
Check out this video of highlights on Sang-Moon Bae’s first victory at the Frys.com Open. A title he will not be able to defend in October 2015.
A court ruling Wednesday in South Korea eventually will force the two-time winner off the PGA Tour and into a mandated two-year military service in his native country.
“I am sorry to those who have supported me, including all my fans and South Koreans, for causing anxiety,”
Bae told the Yonhap News Agency. “I completely respect the court’s decision, and I humbly accept the judgment by the law.”
The news does not come as a complete surprise for Bae. South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 years must complete two years of military service because the country technically remains at war with North Korea.
The 29-year-old Bae was charged in February with violating that rule by not securing an extension that permits overseas travel. A United States resident since 2013, Bae challenged that decision in court, saying he didn’t qualify as an overseas resident because he hadn’t spent enough time outside of South Korea in 2014.
On Wednesday, a court in Bae’s home city of Daegu sided with the Military Manpower Administration of South Korea, according to the Yonhap News Agency.
The President’s Cup is going to be a Rout – On Paper, at least!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The Venue for the 2015 President’s Cup. Jack Nicklaus, GC. Songdo IBD, Incheon City, Korea.
I’m going to start this article by saying that I am South African and will be pulling for the International Team in this week’s President’s Cup.
Nick Price is a friend of mine and a genuinely nice guy. (So is Jay Haas) However, on paper, it does not look good for the Internationals. Of course, many times in the history of human endeavor, “on paper” has meant absolutely squat!
Good Luck to both Captains! (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
Check out my reasoning:
Team USA World Ranking International Team World Ranking
Jordan Spieth 1 Jason Day 2
Bubba Watson 4 Louis Oosthuizen 12
Rickie Fowler 5 Adam Scott 13
Dustin Johnson 8 Hideki Matsuyama 14
Zach Johnson 10 Brandon Grace 22
Matt Kuchar 15 Thongchai Jaidee 32
Jimmy Walker 16 Danny Lee 36
J.B. Holmes 18 Marc Leishman 37
Patrick Reed 19 Anirban Lahiri 39
Phil Mickelson 24 Charl Schwartzel 47
Chris Kirk 27 Steven Bowditch 58
Bill Haas 28 Sang Moon Bae 85
The USA’s World Ranking Points add up to 175. The International Team points add up to 397. The team with the lowest points is obviously the strongest. Bill Haas, the weakest player on the US Team, is stronger than 50% of the International squad. So, as I said earlier, it looks like a runaway for the USA. Chris Kirk is the only player on the US Team without team competition experience. The Internationals have 5 first-timers.
Nick Price successfully changed the format to gain a little advantage and keep the competition more exciting for the fans. We’ll see come Sunday afternoon, whether that was worth the effort!
On Thursday, I wish both teams a fun, friendly, yet competitive competition. Let’s see what “on paper” really means.
Compelling Player Stories going into the Presidents Cup.
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This year the Presidents Cup will be interesting for several reasons.
The first one for me is the format. The format will change from the previous Cup play. The first two days consist of five matches of fourball and five matches of foursomes. The third day consists of four matches of fourball and four matches of foursomes.
The host team captain will decide the order, fourball vs. foursomes, on the first three days. On the fourth and final day, twelve singles matches will be played. 30 matches will be played in all. All matches that are all-square after 18 holes will score ½ point for each team.
The second is we will see the #1 player in the world, Jordan Spieth, play the #2 player in the world, Jason Day, head to head. I hope we see these two against each other in Sunday’s singles matches. Let the games begin!
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
With Jim Furyk’s injured wrist forcing him out of the Presidents Cup, captain Jay Haas tapped J.B. Holmes to serve as Furyk’s replacement.
Compelling Player Stories going into the Presidents Cup.
J.B. played good golf to wrap up his 2014-15 season.
Holmes tied for fourth at the BMW Championship and tied for eighth at the Tour Championship.
However, we don’t know what type of practice and preparation Holmes has been engaging in this past week or whether he went fishing after the Tour Championship.
How Holmes fares will be a major point of interest this week.
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Sang-moon Bae has been a fixture in golf headlines this season.
His battle to delay conscription has been quite the saga. At 19th in the points standings, his selection as a captain’s pick likely has more to do with his nationality than the quality of his play.
However, Bae has played decent golf recently, making it into the field for the Tour Championship and without a missed cut in his last six starts.
As a captain’s pick and Presidents Cup rookie, and as the only Korean in the field, will be in the cross hairs this week.
Unlike the Ryder Cup, the United States squad has done very well in the Presidents Cup.
The U.S. side has won eight of the 10 competitions, including the past five in a row.
The real question isn’t whether this trend will continue, because it seems likely to, but rather if the U.S. side can translate success in this competition to good form at Hazeltine next year.
Look for captain Haas to try to find teams that work in the foursomes and four-ball formats that could become fixtures for the Americans going forward.
Rob Brown/Associated Press
As we arrive at the Presidents Cup, it’s no surprise that members of both teams are playing well and playing poorly.
Will the players who are on top of their games continue to play well in South Korea?
Will the gentlemen currently in the deep freeze turn things around?
The underdog International side will be leaning heavily on the likes of Jason Day, Danny Lee and Hideki Matsuyama, all of whom are playing well entering the biennial competition.
Likewise, the U.S. side will be looking for Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler to keep up the good work. Additionally, late addition J.B. Holmes has top-10 finishes in his two most recent starts.
Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, to name a pair, haven’t been playing well recently. As veterans, the opposing captains will be looking for both to reverse the trend and lead by example.
Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press
Phil Mickelson has competed in the Presidents Cup an impressive 10 times.
However, the veteran hasn’t been playing his best golf this season. He had just three top-10 finishes and was eliminated from the FedEx Cup playoffs after the BMW Championship.
The Mickelson pick, although reportedly cheered in house, was somewhat controversial, as the veteran effectively threw his Ryder Cup captain under the bus and isn’t playing well.
How will Phil help his team? Fans and scribes will be paying close attention to see.
Here are the top 10 stories from the President’s Cup – #1 is my Favorite!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
To get you in the mood for the upcoming President’s Cup this week, here are the Top 10 moments throughout the history of this biennial event!
My personal most exciting moment was watching Tiger Woods go head to head with Ernie Els at Fancourt Golf Links in South Africa. After the light had run out without a result, the match was declared a tie for the very first time!
Thanks to GOLF.com for these interesting stories to set the tone for the rest of the week!
Photo: The Presidents Cup.
The Presidents Cup trophy awaits the 2015 champions.
Here are the top 10 stories from the President’s Cup – #1 is my Favorite!
The 10 best moments from the Presidents Cup, which will be played Oct. 8-11 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon, South Korea:
10. OH, CANADA:
Mike Weir, at No. 20 in the standings, was a captain’s pick for the 2007 Presidents Cup in Canada. Even though the Americans had a huge lead at Royal Montreal going into Sunday, the Canadian faced Tiger Woods with a nation watching. Weir made a birdie to square the match on the 17th. On the final hole, Woods’ tee shot failed to clear the water on the left. It splashed down right in front of a pair of fans holding a Maple Leaf flag. The Americans won the cup. Weir won a match that felt almost as big.
9. NICE GUY NICK:
The Presidents Cup was never more packed with emotion than in South Africa in 2003. The matches were close from the start, particularly on Sunday, and especially Nick Price against Kenny Perry. Perry won three straight holes. Price won the next three holes. It came down to the 18th hole, and Price had a birdie putt to halve the match. He missed, and walking off the green, he broke his putter over his knee.
8. BOOM BOOM:
For the longest time, Fred Couples was the American face of the Ryder Cup. He secured victory in 1996 with a 35-foot birdie putt and a celebration that was vintage Freddie. As he raced off the green, he grabbed a hat off the head of a caddie and threw it in the air, and then butchered a high-five with Davis Love III. Nine years later, Couples made a critical putt to beat Vijay Singh, dropping his putter and walking away. As a captain, he went 3-0.
7. THUNDER DOWN UNDER:
The Presidents Cup was held in Virginia the first two times, and the International team demanded a home game. So it went to Royal Melbourne in 1998, and the Americans were so stacked that International captain Peter Thomson introduced them as the ”greatest collection of golfers in the world.” Just not that week. The event was so lopsided that Nick Price secured the winning point by beating David Duval before breakfast had stopped being served. The final score was 20 1/2-11 1/2.
6. AQUAMAN:
Woody Austin tried to play a shot from the bank of a lake on the 14th hole at Royal Montreal in 2007 when he lost his balance, stumbled backward and fell face-first into the water. The one-liners were endless. The fans called out ”Marco” and ”Polo” the rest of his match. U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus put him in the lineup the next day and announced him as ”Jacques Cousteau.” Austin played along and showed up Sunday wearing snorkeling gear.
Next Up in Golf – The President’s Cup – Why You MUST Watch!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This biennial competition pits the U.S. Team against an international team from outside the U.S. and Europe.
European Team.
From October 9-11, 2015, The President’s Cup will play out in South Korea at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea. Captaining the U.S. Team is Jay Haas and the International Team is headed up by Nick Price.
The amazing talents of the current crop of golfers, which you’ve seen this year at all 4 Majors, will be on display. And, they will fight like hell for their team! That’s why you will watch.
How about Jordan Spieth versus Jason Day in Match Play? Zach Johnson dueling with Hideki Matsuyama? Ricky Fowler and Danny Lee . . . .
The U.S. Team won the President’s Cup in 2013, 18.5 over the 15.5 posted by the International Team.
But this year, the Americans don’t play on home turf. Who will win? Share your comments here!
3 Big Reasons the USA dominates the President’s Cup!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The 2015 Presidents Cup will play out in Korea from Oct. 8 to 11. It is a great exhibition of golf and emphasizes the joy of playing golf, rather than the ‘war’ of competition evident with the Ryder Cup.
But why does America dominate this competition and not the Ryder Cup?
A large part of it, according to E. Michael Johnson at Golf Digest, is expectations. The USA knows going in, that they are the stronger team and have more depth. That gives them great confidence, whereas they know they are seen as the underdogs in the Ryder Cup.
Jason Day goes into this year’s Presidents Cup as their most dominant player! (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)
Would you take the job as Ryder or Presidents Cup Captain?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Why in the world would anyone want this thankless job?
But, every two years, there are former PGA Tour players (who I always thought were pretty smart) lobbying for the worst job in all of sports. If your team loses, you were a terrible Captain who made poor tactical decisions, made the wrong pairings, or made the wrong Captain’s picks. If your team wins, they all played great, congratulations!
No thanks, Just stay at home, watch it on TV and criticize whoever was stupid enough to take this job!
Cameron Morfit of GOLF.com certainly thinks the same way. Check out his take on the subject.
Pity poor Jay Haas, who will lead the Americans into battle at the Presidents Cup on Oct. 8–11 in South Korea. Maybe nobody told him the awful truth, that being the captain of a U.S. Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team is the worst job in sports this side of mixed martial arts mop man.
David Graham, a genuinely good guy who was just inducted into the Hall of Fame, had is captaincy of his International team taken away before a shot was even hit at the 1996 Presidents Cup, the result of a team mutiny that left everyone looking and feeling awful. At Oakland Hills in 2004 we made fun of Hal Sutton’s cowboy hat and ripped his disastrous decision to pair Tiger and Phil (0-2-0) as Bernhard Langer’s European team cruised.
Nick Faldo took arrows in 2008, when a ragtag group of Americans (no Tiger!) led by Paul Azinger stormed to victory at Valhalla. And at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, Scotland, another player-insurrection (and odd decision-making) tarnished Tom Watson’s legacy.
Those are just a few of the lowlights.
Now we get Haas’s hotly talked about captain’s pick of Phil Mickelson as one of two wild cards to round out the 12-man roster when the Americans journey to Jack Nicklaus G.C. Korea in Incheon City. (Jay’s son Bill was the other pick — you’d better believe Jay gave a little extra thought to that one.)
Bill Haas made sense; at 11th on the points list he was next in line to make the team on merit after the 10 automatic qualifiers. But Mickelson? The critics howled. The guy who was 30th on the points list? Who hasn’t won a tournament in more than two years, is 45, is 182nd in greens in regulation, and did little more than make the cut at the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship? Wouldn’t it have made sense to take a guy who represents the future (Billy Horschel, Brooks Koepka) and not the past?
Here’s the thing, though: Poor Haas couldn’t not pick Mickelson. For one thing, Haas says his players and vice captains lobbied for Lefty. But even if they hadn’t, how long do you think these guys have known each other? Two decades? How long do you think Haas has known Koepka? Two months? Call it the better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know bias, or the friendship conundrum. Whatever you call it, it’s just one reason why captains are set up to fail, in this case erring on the side of age and experience (or decrepitude, depending on how the pick performs).
Photo: Chung Sung Jun/ Getty Images
Jay Haas will captain the U.S. Presidents Cup team in Korea next month.
The Presidents Cup has a new format – What do you think?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The Presidents Cup has long been the poor cousin to the Ryder Cup.
The Rest of the World team has not had much success, and most meetings have been one-sided. Several years ago, when the Ryder Cup was Great Britain vs. the USA, Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros decided that to grow the game internationally, Europe should combine with Great Britain to face off against the USA. The rest is history! The Ryder Cup is one of the most-watched golf events throughout the world!
Nick Price (Captain of the Rest of the World team) has his own ideas on making the format more exciting and getting people involved in watching these great players complete for their countries. I think he has succeeded. Brendan Mohler of GOLF.com reveals Nick’s groundbreaking ideas!
(Photo by Caryn Levy/PGA TOUR)
The United States has dominated the Presidents Cup since the event was first played in 1994. But with the new changes to the PGA Tour’s format today, lasting domination may become slightly more difficult to maintain.
In short, the changes will involve fewer points up for grabs.
And less matches altogether, which, as International Team captain Nick Price argued recently, should help to even out the playing field and create more excitement during the matches.
Here’s a list of the changes, which will be in play during this year’s event held October 6-11 at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon City, South Korea.
Total points available reduced from 34 to 30, with five four-ball matches and five foursome matches on Thursday and Friday, instead of six and six. Four four-ball matches and four foursome matches will be played on Saturday, instead of five and five.
Each player must compete in two of the first four sessions, with every player competing in Sunday singles. Team members were previously required to play in three of four foursome/four-ball portions.
The host team’s captain will determine the order of the matches on Thursday and Friday. In South Korea, it will be Price’s decision which format (either foursomes or four-ball) they will play on Thursday and Friday.
Any match that ends 18 holes all-square will not be taken to sudden death, as they were in the past, but instead will end with each team being awarded a half point, like the Ryder Cup.
The changes will make the Presidents Cup format more similar to that of the Ryder Cup and help create more dramatic finishes.
10 Players who could still be picked for the Presidents Cup!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
I always look forward to the Presidents Cup with much anticipation.
Because as a former South African and a Canadian Citizen, I always pull for the “Rest of the World.” They have not been very successful in recent years, but this year may be different. The American team is strong, with Major Champions Jordan Spieth and Zach Johnson heading a powerful contingent. However, close behind are Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen, who has been strong in the Majors. Looks like an interesting battle. Tough choices for the Captain’s Picks after the PGA Championship! Bleacher Report has put together a list of players who can still make the US Team if they have a strong showing in the next few months!
The 2015 Presidents Cup is exactly 75 days away starting on Thursday, October 8, but the date is about all that’s set in stone when it comes to the United States’ plan of duplicating its 2013 triumph over the international team.
Though the process is nearing its end, there are still months of FedEx Cup points to sort out before the top 10 Americans in the standings can be determined.
Tour players have been collecting those points since the BMW Championship in 2013 and will continue to fight for pole position through the 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship (September 4-7).
Immediately after that event, U.S. captain Jay Haas and his assistants Fred Couples and Davis Love III will have a total of two captain’s picks to make on September 8 to finalize the squad.
But who’s most likely to be on Hass’ short list in two months’ time? Which players are on the cusp of breaking into the top 10 after two years of diligently compiling FedEx Cup points for a shot at international glory?
Billy Horschel is right on the bubble!
Well, guys like J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker and Robert Streb are all poised to crack that list, but they could hardly be considered “under the radar.” So far this season, Snedeker has eight top-10 finishes, while Streb has seven, and Holmes has five (not to mention each of them has also won an event this season and featured in the top 10 of last week’s British Open).
Charlie Hoffman needs to step up his game in the next few weeks!
But others have been playing well—just not quite so prominently.
Let’s take a look at 10 surprising players who have been putting in the work behind the scenes over the last two years and quietly inching their way into contention for the 2015 U.S Presidents Cup team.
Do you want your child to love golf – Follow this 8 step guide!
