All the Presidents men
Golf showdown comes out swinging in South Africa to find its place alongside the Ryder Cup
By KEN FIDLIN -- Toronto Sun
At the Shamwari Game Reserve in South Africa's Eastern Cape region, it is not at all that unusual to see lions and elephants and rhinos sharing the same veld. But you don't often see a Tiger roaming among them.
Not only a Tiger, but a Mike and an Ernie and maybe even a Vijay.
Just one rule: Don't feed the golfers.
This week, South Africa is throwing open its arms to welcome the Presidents Cup golf matches and some of the game's top names are planning to take advantage of the local resources.
Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Canada's Mike Weir and several others among the 24 players on the American and International teams are on safari. Their high-adventure holiday isn't just about birdies and eagles.
It's expected that some of these household names of golf will be enjoying champagne breakfasts at the game reserve and wandering on foot in the veld (or plain) with the "big five" -- elephants, rhinos, leopards, lions and cape buffaloes). For this trek, they'll exchange their caddies for armed guides, just for good measure.
If that's not enough of a rush, Woods is planning another side trip to go on a cage dive with great white sharks in the Western Cape. This involves scuba gear and crouching in a submerged seven-foot by five-foot steel cage, staring into the eyes of one of the world's most dominant predators. We're talking, of course, about Tiger, not the shark.
Wedged into this high-adventure vacation is some added drama to be played out on the turf of The Links at Fancourt Estate in the town of George.
This is the fifth Presidents Cup and the International Team is looking to get a little revenge for the pasting it took in 2000 at Manassas, Virginia. They were smoked 20 1/2 to 11 1/2. The U.S. has won three of the four previous engagements, but always on home turf.
If you're confused about the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, you have plenty of company. The Ryder Cup is played every other year between 12-man teams of Americans and Europeans. It has been played since 1927.
The Presidents Cup began in 1994 and is played in non-Ryder years pitting an International team (excluding Europe) against the same Americans. Both events involve three days of team matches (alternate shot and best ball) leading up to the final day of 12 singles matches.
On the surface, then, aside from the exotic venues, all that separates the Presidents Cup from the Ryder Cup is history. But, golf and tradition being the soulmates that they are, it is an insurmountable chasm.
To put it in perspective, the Ryder Cup is older than Arnold Palmer. The Presidents Cup is younger than Michelle Wie.
This not just about sentiment, either. It is about big business. The PGA of America (not to be confused with the PGA Tour) administers the Ryder Cup on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. For that organization, Samuel Ryder's legacy is the goose that laid the golden egg. The last time it was held in the United States, in 1999, the PGA of America reaped gross revenues estimated at $63 million US. Needless to say, the PGA of America is not going to mess with a winning format.
For its part, the PGA Tour is still very much committed to the Presidents Cup format as it is. It developed the event in the early 1990s to give the many great players around the world who don't come from the U.S. or Europe a chance to be part of a global competition.
That's the stated goal, but it's obvious that when TV and patriotism turned the Ryder Cup into a tense, must-watch event starting in 1991, the PGA Tour wanted a part of the action.
At the most recent Presidents Cup, Tour commissioner Tim Finchem didn't try to hide his resentment at comparisons between the two events.
"We don't conduct the Presidents Cup because we're trying to outdo the Ryder Cup," he said. "I just think comparisons between the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are irrelevant."
They are also inevitable. The two formats are virtually identical, each operating on a two-year cycle that was knocked off its routine by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Before the 2000 renewal in Virginia, Finchem was stung when Sports Illustrated referred to the Presidents Cup as "Ryder Cup Lite, a flat, watery brew." This time around, Finchem may not mind the comparisons, however.
The International Team that will try to wrest the Cup away from the United States this week at Fancourt, is an impressive collection of talent. It can be argued that none of the 34 Ryder Cup renewals has ever matched the power and talent that will be on display by the Americans and Internationals at this fifth Presidents Cup.
This competition will include 17 of the top 22 players in the world, as designated by the Sony World Rankings. No Ryder Cup has ever come close to that. American teams always have their fill of highly ranked players, but the Europeans seldom have more than a couple of global stars. It doesn't stop the Euros from regularly taking the United States to the woodshed but, from a star standpoint, the Internationals have a juggernaut.
In South Africa, they will boast nine of the top 22 players, including, four of the top seven, in Singh, Els, Weir and Retief Goosen. The Americans will counter with five of the world's top nine, including Woods, Davis Love III, Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry and David Toms.
The No. 1 criticism of the Presidents Cup is that it lacks the fiery passion that has come to characterize the Ryder Cup. There is some irony in that criticism because the Ryder Cup has been chastised all over the world for its unseemly disregard for sportsmanship.
The problem that exists, however, in turning the Presidents Cup into an "us-against-them" showdown that seems to sustain the tension of the Ryder Cups every two years, is that the Internationals are way too familiar to the Americans, and vice-versa.
It is difficult for some players on both teams to develop a competitive enmity for players who are not only Tour regulars but, in many cases, friends and neighbours stretching back to college days.
Indeed, 11 of the 12 International Team members are regulars on the PGA Tour and maintain homes in the United States.
"Vijay lives right next to me," says Furyk, of Singh. Both live in Ponte Vedra Beach, just outside Jacksonville, Fla.
"I practise next to him every day. When I play against Vijay, we're not going to get into a heated argument about a ruling. We're going to compete but we're also going to pat each other on the back at the end of the day and go get a beer. That's what's nice about this competition."
Maybe. But don't be so sure that this is going to be a love-in. The Internationals want some payback for the last debacle and they certainly don't want to go down 4-1 in the overall series. It is, after all, their home game.
Likewise, the Americans are still smarting from last year's Ryder Cup loss and are loathe to find themselves without possession of at least one of the Ryder or Presidents Cups.
So, yes, it might just get a bit nasty. After all, it's a jungle out there.
JUST THE FACTS
EVENT: Fifth Presidents Cup matches between the United States and an International team of players from everywhere but Europe.
DATES: Nov. 20-23.
VENUE: The Links Course at Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate, in George, South Africa.
LENGTH: 7,489 yards. PAR: 73.
POINTS NEEDED TO WIN: 17 1/2.
CAPTAINS: Jack Nicklaus (U.S.) and Gary Player (International).
DEFENDING CHAMPION: United States.
SERIES: United States leads, 3-1.
LAST TIME: Coming off its worst defeat in team competition, the United States won the first five matches and went on to the most lopsided victory in the Presidents Cup, 21 1/2-10 1/2. Davis Love III and Stewart Cink were each 4-0, while Tiger Woods had his first winning record (3-2) in a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup.
FORMAT: Six alternate-shot matches Thursday. Five better-ball matches and five alternate-shot matches Friday. Six better-ball matches Saturday. Twelve singles matches Sunday. One point is awarded for each win, a half-point when the match ends in a draw. If the matches are tied at 17, each captain will designate a player for a sudden-death playoff.
TELEVISION: (Tape delay) Thursday: TSN, 1 p.m.; Friday: TSN, 8 a.m., 4 p.m.; Saturday: TSN, 5:30 a.m., NBC, 12 noon; Sunday: TSN, 5:30 a.m., 1 p.m.
