On a global scale, the world’s most competitive golf will be showcased in Athens’ backyard this weekend at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
A total of 24 players, including 12 from the United States and another dozen from international countries will spend four days competing in match-play style for an event heavily dominated in the past by U.S. players.
Since the Presidents Cup’s inception in 1994, the U.S. has walked away with all but two titles in the bi-annual event: one in 1998 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia and the other in 2003 in South Africa.
Records aside, the competition appears even-keeled for each team.
Speaking at a press conference at last week’s TOUR Championship, U.S. players talked about the week ahead.
“Both teams look pretty strong,” Jason Dufner, winner of this year’s PGA Championship, said. “We've got a lot of guys on our team that are playing well right now, same for them. I think as a player you kind of want the competition to be close and see where you stack up, but I think either way it goes, the competition is still pretty strong.”
Only three players for the International team, Ernie Els, Adam Scott and Angel Cabrera, have played in more than one Presidents Cup, with two others, Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel, having only played in 2011.
That leaves seven rookies in this style of play and of the five, only Els and Schwartzel have winning career records.
“I know that history favors the U.S. Team, but maybe there's that great underdog role as well that the internationals play, that people may like to see the underdog do well and continue to pull,” Matt Kuchar said, winner of this year’s Memorial Tournament at Muirfield. “It might be like the Chicago Cubs. Wouldn't it be great for them to win? Would things change if they won a World Series? They still have huge support.”
Support will still favor the home team, especially with some of the most recognized names on the PGA Tour.
Tiger Woods, who has won on five separate occasions at Muirfield, will enter the Presidents Cup as the PGA Player of the Year. Perhaps having equally impressive of a season, if not more when you consider he could still be in college, is PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, Jordan Spieth.
“I think that Spieth is – he's the type of guy you'd want to partner with,” Keegan Bradley, winner of three events on the PGA Tour, said. “He hits the ball straight, has a very good putter. I'm not sure who he's going to partner with, but I think he fits in with a lot of guys.”
Competition begins Thursday at 11:45 a.m. with six matches in all. Players will participate in fourball matches, where the best score of a particular player on each team will compete against the other.
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Up Next:
Thursday
Match 1: Jason Day/Graham DeLaet (International) vs. Hunter Mahan/Brandt Snedeker (U.S.)
Match 2: Adam Scott/Hideki Matsuyama (International) vs. Bill Haas/Webb Simpson (U.S.)
Match 3: Louis Oosthuizen/Charl Schwartzel (International) vs. Phil Mickelson/Keegan Bradley (U.S.)
Match 4: Ernie Els/Brendon de Jonge (International) vs. Steve Stricker/Jordan Spieth (U.S.)
Match 5: Angel Cabrera/Marc Leishman (International) vs. Matt Kuchar/Tiger Woods (U.S.)
Match 6: Branden Grace/Richard Sterne (International) vs. Jason Dufner/Zach Johnson (U.S.)
