Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Associated Press
SYDNEY
The Presidents Cup has been looked upon as the country cousin of the Ryder Cup, an event packed with some of the best players in the world but missing the intensity of competing tours, competing continents and more than 60 years of history.
On paper, it would seem this edition doesn’t have much going for it.
For the first time since it began in 1994, the Presidents Cup will not have the No. 1 player in the world — or any of the top three players in the world, who are all European and not eligible. Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa is the only player on either side to have won a major this year, another career-low for this event.
Eleven of the 24 players on the U.S and International teams have failed to win a tournament anywhere in the world this year.
So why is the Presidents Cup getting more attention than ever?
Tiger Woods, of course.
This sleepy little affair found itself in the middle of a minor controversy when Woods — winless for the last two years and out of the top 50 in the world for the first time since he was a 20-year-old rookie — was picked for the U.S. team by captain Fred Couples.
What’s more, Couples announced he was taking Woods — calling him “the best player in the world forever” — a month before the qualifying period ended, essentially informing the other Americans that only one spot was available if they didn’t make the team.
International captain Greg Norman added some fuel when he said he would not have taken Woods over PGA champion Keegan Bradley, a two-time winner this year who wound up being left off the team. Geoff Ogilvy caused headlines simply by saying he didn’t agree with the timing of Couples’ decision.
“Greg and Tiger have both been very good at getting themselves in the paper — Greg his whole career, and Tiger is that guy now. He isn’t even sighted and he’s talked about,” Ogilvy said.