Presidents Cup Sunday: Over Before It Started

by Vic Williams | posted October 12, 2009

It was a tall order for the talented but outgunned International team: Take eight of 12 singles points to pull out a Presidents Cup comeback at Harding Park.

Way too tall, it turned out. Taller than one of Phil Mickelson’s towering tee shots, far taller than the skyscraping dormitory and office buildings across Lake Merced Blvd. from the golf course. Taller than Vijay Singh and Ernie Els combined. Taller than Captain Greg Norman’s ego, even.

The 2009 version of the PGA Tour’s answer to the Ryder Cup was decided by halftime of the NFL’s late afternoon games, and fittingly, it was Tiger Woods who secured the final point on Harding’s tournament 13th hole, which is really No. 16. Confused? Don’t be. The story of this event was clearly defined before the first foursomes headed out for battle on Thursday: Americans take lead, Americans maintain lead, Americans increase lead, Americans put it away with authority.

In the parlance of sports bettors, this Prez Cup was a mortal lock. The world’s top three players wear red, white and blue, and they flexed both muscle and short game mastery in racking up 13 ½ of the U.S. team’s 19 ½ total points. Tiger was simply Tiger, playing as efficiently as humanly possible and spurring his partner for the first three days, Steve Stricker, to a career performance, especially on the greens. And Phil Mickelson went an undefeated 4-0-1, securing a long-awaited spot as a team leader, perhaps even a sage. He played as well as we’ve ever seen him play, especially in this format.

But Stricker was a revelation. The guy was simply unconscious with the flatstick, leaving Tiger in the uncharacteristic position of bystander as he racked up birdie after birdie. The team didn’t lose a hole until the afternoon four-ball match on Saturday — a dinky speed bump on the road to ultimate success.

When he was on his own Sunday, Tiger turned up the volume on Y.E. Yang. He toyed with the Korean major winner — a very popular presence for the tournament crowd’s large Asian complement — by going one down on the first hole, then righting the Good Ship Superstar to close out Yang 6 and 5. And he did it with an assassin’s precision, sinking a great putt on the uphill par 3 ninth and even turning his errant tee shot on the drivable 13th into birdie gold with a lovely pitch from the trees. When the subsequent seven-footer found the cup, Fred Couples — easily the loosest, coolest captain in international competition history — ran out and gave his No. 1 stud a hug with the news that after all these years, he was finally the guy to push his team over the winning edge. It was proof that Couples’ strategy of placing Tiger’s match two-thirds of the way through the lineup was a stroke of genius. The fact that Woods went 5-0, easily his greatest record as an international team player, is almost incidental. It just blends into the background.

Couples’ strategic instincts were spot-on throughout the week. He and Norman arranged every match for maximum drama. Only one point separated their teams after the first couple days, setting up a hot weekend competition-wise though San Francisco’s weather was more like mid-August than mid-October in character, foggy and chilly. The sun stayed away every day but Friday, the jackets stayed on, and Harding’s poa annua greens stayed green (but still amazingly fast). And the Americans just got hotter and hotter, though the Internationals had their horses, too — especially Tim Clark, the diminutive South African “bulldog” (as Norman called him) who pounded Zach Johnson 4&3 on Sunday (it was actually a lot worse than that), and 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa, who eclipsed his rocky start with a strong partnership with Yang on Friday and Saturday, then took down Kenny Perry on Sunday. He’s got a strong future on the world stage.

So does Harding Park, which shined once again as a big-time venue even though it will be forever overshadowed by the private Olympic Club just across the lake (which against hosts the U.S. Open in 2012). Harding will host the Champions Tour’s Schwab Cup in 2010 and 2011, and is contracted to host a couple of PGA Tour events as well, perhaps even a FedEx Cup playoff event. Even with a configuration that’s all but unrecognizable to its everyday players, the course sets up beautifully for big-time golf.

Finally, the Presidents Cup itself has matured into a indispensable, worthwhile event. Though President Obama didn’t make it to the closing ceremony as advertised (word is he’s got a full plate), presidents Clinton and H.W. Bush did show up — the latter for three days. It is, after all, a Presidential showcase. And a great show.

Next stop, Royal Melbourne in two years. Chances are Norman and Couples will remain as captains. A lot of the same players will show up, too. Suddenly, we can’t wait.

Vic Williams is editor and publishing partner of Fairways + Greens, a bi-monthly magazine dedicated to golf, travel and lifestyle for the West and beyond. He has written thousands of stories on golf and will cover every facet of the game right here, primarily travel but also the major tours, equipment, personalities and more. Contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it