By: Ed Travis
The 2017 Presidents Cup was fun. Golf fans saw quality shots hit by a couple dozen very good golfers, a few even deserving the oft-used label, world-class. Even the weather cooperated for the Presidents Cup, an exhibition masquerading as intense competition.
It was crystal clear before the teams were named, this was going to be a rout. The International squad just didn’t have the horsepower. But of course, they haven’t had it for any of the twelve previous Presidents Cups. Except for 1998, when Peter Thompson led the International squad that beat up on Jack Nicklaus’ team at Royal Melbourne. Plus, I almost forgot, there was that Gary Player/Jack Nicklaus tie in Darkest South Africa, way back in 2003.
The U.S “Dream Team” so dominated this year it was just ½ point short of clinching the trophy at the close of play on Saturday. Had that happened, Nick Price’s Internationals would have been even more embarrassed, but it also would have put the PGA Tour in an uncomfortable position with sponsors and fans.
The twelve Sunday matches were almost pointless and analyzing the Presidents Cup over its entire 23 year run leads to an inescapable conclusion.
It is an exhibition……not a true competition. It lacks the gut-wrenching drama of a Ryder Cup.
The PGA Tour, God Bless Them, have tried, and promoted the heck out of each Presidents Cup, but it just doesn’t measure up to what they want it be.
Things have been modified over the years. The format added a day in 2000, going from three to four days. The basic format has always been fourball and foursomes, capped off the last day, with 12 singles matches, just like the Ryder Cup.
Potentially thrilling……except that it isn’t.
When one team so utterly dominates the first three days of the team matches and the only hope for the underdog is to salvage some semblance of pride by winning the majority of the singles matches, it does not measure up as an elite event.
The International Team did win 7.5 of the possible 12 points on Sunday, but it was not nearly enough to gain respectability. Someone needed to get the fork out on Saturday night, cuz the Internationals were DONE!
What’s the remedy, or do we relegate the “Presidents Cup Exhibition” to silly season status?
There are few options for improvement by expanding the inventory of eligible players as was done for the Ryder Cup. In 1973, at the behest of Jack Nicklaus, golfers from the entire European continent became eligible for the Ryder Cup, which yielded two important names, Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer.
The International Team already has the pick of the litter from the rest of the world, but frankly there are few golfers outside the U.S. or Europe, ready for prime time. No one would argue that Adam Scott, Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama are world-class, but that International Team trio accounted for a total of ½ points through the first three days of this Presidents Cup.
Any plan impinging on perceived Ryder Cup prerogatives would be impossible to implement, after all, it is the “Holy Grail” of international team competition.
My Humble Proposal…….Desperate times call for desperate measures.
Change is needed to give the Presidents Cup relevance, to make it a true competitive event and save it from the oblivion.
The idea would be to expand both teams by adding female professionals from the United States and around the world, including obviously Japan, South Korea and Asia to both squads. How many? I don’t know, but the inherent attractiveness of male/female mixed pairings would be unique if not downright compelling for advertisers and fans.
The South Korean women alone would make a huge impact on the overall team balance.
Spice things up by awarding points to participants, to advance the individual player’s ranking on their tour’s season-long competition. The Race to the CME Globe for LPGA players, the FedEx Cup standings for PGA Tour members and Race To Dubai points for International Team members, competing on the European Tour.
Points could be allotted for being named to the team. Additional points could be awarded for each match won and for actually winning the Presidents Cup.
Players couldn’t help but be enthusiastic, plus a couple of badly needed things would be accomplished. First, the Presidents Cup would be rescued by giving fans something exciting and different, but more significantly, female professionals would be showcased on a world stage.
The time is now to stir the pot to fix the Presidents Cup…anybody have email addresses for Jay Monahan and Michael Whan?
Finally, I want to take a swipe at all the critics, naysayers and so-called experts, who criticized Steve Stricker for selecting Phil Mickelson as a Captain’s Pick. The eminent philosopher and abuser of the English language, Yogi Berra put it so well,
“It’s déjà vu all over again.”
Two years ago, when Captain Jay Haas tapped Lefty, it was the same discordant chorus, but at the age of 45, Mickelson accounted for 3 ½ points, tying for the most points on the team. Mickelson this year played four matches and finished with 3 ½ points only one point behind the U.S. Team leader, Dustin Johnson.
At an age, when most players, if they even still have their PGA Tour card, are cruising to the magic five-oh and a spot on the PGA Tour Champions, Mickelson stepped up and again silenced the experts, who criticized his inclusion on the team. He was ranked 15th on the FedEx Cup points list, with the top ten automatically earning a spot on the team. By comparison the other Captain’s Pick, 11th ranked Charley Hoffman had a record of 1-2-0, not exactly stellar.
As a friend of mine said referring to Lefty’s invigorated play the last month of the regular season and his record in the Presidents Cup,
“There’s a reason he’s in the Hall of Fame.”
