Looking Ahead to the Presidents Cup

It’s safe to say that the 2009 Presidents Cup will be different from any we’ve experienced to date.

The first big change is the venue. Harding Park, a municipal course owned by the city of San Francisco, will host in 2009. The Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virgina has hosted on the four occasions the Presidents Cup has been played in the United States since its inception in 1994.

Second, each team will have new captains. Freddy Couples will lead the U.S. against Greg Norman’s International team. They’re shaping up to be very different personalities than the former captains, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player. While Freddy and Greg are capable and deserving of the roles, they don’t possess the same golfing gravitas that Jack and Gary do.

When asked who he was considering as an assistant captain, Freddy’s response was:

I’ve mentioned Michael Jordan as an assistant, assistant, assistant. Lately I’ve mentioned Robin Williams and the reason I say that is as Greg mentioned earlier, we’re not on any teams when you’re in the locker room. And you have people come in when you’re in the team room, I think, first of all, I love Michael Jordan, I’ve been around him. He does some things in Santa Barbara. A lot of our players know him. He’s at these events. So that’s why I bring his name up because as a team player, there’s no one any better. And I think that’s what’s the fun part.

Now the challenging part is when you’re sitting around and you’ve got nothing but time, I would like a guy like Robin Williams there to keep us loose, and that’s why I say that. Whether they are there or not, I don’t know, but I do have a great friend in mine mind to play as my teammate and hopefully pick some good guys and get some good pairings. (Link)

Possibly topping that off was Greg Norman hinting that he might select his fiancée as his assistant.

We’ve got the Ryder Cup this year, a couple FedEx Cups, eight majors, seven WGC events and about 60 PGA Tour events before the Presidents Cup is set to be played. But it’s shaping up to be an interesting tournament already.

Published by

Chris

Attorney & Amateur Golfer

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