If the US wins the President’s Cup and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
By Flint Wheeler
It looked to me like the U.S. fixed a fight. Remember in the 80’s and 90’s when the boxing world was at its peak?
Coming out of the Muhammed Ali years into the Mike Tyson decade, eyes were glued to the screen. Shoveling $29.95 into Pay per view for what seemed like an eternity of hype and hoopla for what inevitably became a Mike Tyson knockout 22 seconds into the first round versus an opponent who may or may not even remember signing up for the fight. This is exactly how I saw this year’s President’s Cup. Nice to see Uncle Sam celebrating a little golf tournament while some soldiers wait to come home until our chosen representatives (smirk) open the appropriate funding for transportation home from abroad. Our government’s priorities and decision making makes me crazy the more I pay attention. It seems to be a system of electing individuals who then work their butts off (pause) at staying elected and making sure they don’t lose their cush job. Sometimes our government has more than their head in the sand. However, if you read last week’s article, thank goodness we have the world of sports to alleviate the thought of what unfortunately has become a frustrating reality that is our government. This year’s Presidents Cup featured a Mike Tyson like showing and was by all accounts over early. The U.S. beat the International Squad 18.5-15.5. So while my prayers and heart go to our government employees and soldiers who need answers quickly about pay and job security, here is a quick break down of some winners and losers from this year’s event.
Loser: Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel; At one point, it looked like this pair of majors winners (Schwartzel won the 2011 Masters and Oosthuizen won the 2010 British Open) would be the lone bright spot for the Internationals. Oosthuizen, who was coming off of four months without playing, looked like a good partner for the usually stalwart Schwartzel. But then, in a foursome match against Snedeker and Webb Simpson, they blew a three-up lead with six holes to play with three bogeys and a double bogey. Winning would have given the International team a nice momentum shift, but it was not meant to be. Winner: Tiger Woods and Matt Kuchar; The pairing of Woods and Kuchar seemed to be a pretty good idea. Then the two congratulated each other with a handshake straight out of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” and it started to look like a stroke of genius. The affable straight-shooting Kuchar struck a nice balance with the fiercely competitive Woods, and they went on to win three of their matches together. When you consider that Kuchar won the Accenture Match Play event earlier this year and Woods has won it three times and owned a record 23 President Cup wins going into Muirfield, there was hardly a duo on the International team that could match up against them. Oh yeah, and Tiger capped with USA win by finishing off rookie Richard Sterne in individual play for a 4-1 overall record.
Winner: Freddie Couples; Couples now holds the record for consecutive President Cup wins as a captain with three. Couples debuted as captain in 2009 and led the United States team to victories that year and also in 2011. Couples’ has appeared four times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2005) as a player. He didn’t need to show a ton of guile or strategy this time around, but Couples surely leads by example with his calm and assured demeanor.
Loser: The Presidents Cup; As big-time international sporting events go, this one may be one of the least exciting and least competitive. Is it time to change the makeup of this biennial lopsided matchup? Or do we just take it for what it is, a nice little gathering among some good golfers with lots of fanfare but little competition? With seven rookies and a couple of questionable vets on their team, the International squad just never had a chance. This couldn’t have been a lot of fun for the venerable Nick Price, who deserves much better. The USA now leads the International team 8-1-1, winning for the fifth straight time. And of course the honorable mention winner; The finishing hole naked girl looked to be running around seemingly without a message, sponsor, purpose or seemingly any idea where she was going; just a girl running naked around the 18th green at a major sporting event. I took her action as “I guess things can’t be all that bad”. Golf needs more naked girls running around during events. That never hurts anything.
