President’s Cup Teams Announced
The captains for this year’s President’s Cup – Fred Couples for the U.S. Team and Greg Norman for the International Team – announced their selections for the final two spots on their respective teams Tuesday.
Couples selected Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan to join the ten automatic qualifiers on the U.S. Team that include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickleson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O’Hair, Jim Furyk, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard.
The pick of Glover makes sense because he was the only 2009 major winner that was not an automatic qualifier. I really like the pick of Hunter Mahan, as you may remember was one of my picks to contend for the PGA Championship title, to round out the U.S. Team. Brian Gay was ranked ahead of Mahan on the President’s Cup points list, but Mahan is currently 14 spots higher than Gay in the world rankings. Plus, the experience of the 2007 President’s Cup for both Glover and Mahan, who were rookies, will prove invaluable.
Norman tabbed Adam Scott and Ryo Ishikawa to join his International Team qualifiers of Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Y.E. Yang and Tim Clark.
The International Team selections made by Norman were not nearly as easy to understand. Scott was ranked 14th on the President’s Cup points list, behind Rori Sabbatini, Jeev Singh and Shingo Katayama. Plus, Sabbatini’s world ranking is 43rd currently, while Scott’s is 53rd. Scott’s best finish in 2009 was second place early in the season at the Sony Open in Hawaii and has only had one other finish in the top 30. What does appear to be in Scott’s favor is that he has participated in three previous President’s Cups where as Sabbatini has only appeared in one (2007). Plus, Norman is probably more familiarity with Scott as they are both Australian.
The most controversial pick was that of Ryo Ishikawa. Ishakawa has won three times on the Japan Golf Tour. However, that success has not translated to the PGA Tour, where he made six appearances and missed the cut four times. In addition to those already mentioned, a President’s Cup veteran K.J. Choi was passed over for the 17 year-old Ishikawa. If Norman was looking to make a splash with a potential star of tomorrow, why not select Alvaro Quiros who is ranked 41st in the world and has a dynamic game that entertains the fans.
Norman may be looking to the future with Ishikawa by getting him a taste of the President’s Cup competition in 2009. But as far as giving the International Team the best team to compete for this year’s cup, he may have been better served with Rori Sabbatini and Shingo Katayama.
Either way, the U.S. Team from top to bottom appears to be the stronger team and should defeat the International Team to capture its third straight President’s Cup.
Prediction:
U.S. Team 20.5
Int’l Team 13.5