Andy Capostagno golf If the fourth edition of the President’s Cup follows anything like the pattern of the last one, held in Australia in 1998, by the time you read this the international team captained by South Africa’s Ernie Els should already have wrapped it up. For it was in Melbourne two years ago that the United States team was humbled by the astonishing margin of 20,5 points to 11,5. The unheralded Japanese player Shigeki Maruyama earned five of his team’s points. Purely by gazing at the world rankings there should be no way that the international team can repeat their Melbourne heroics. The US have five of the top eight players in the world, including the incomparable Tiger Woods, and their lowest-ranked performer is Notah Begay, the Native American who was at college with Woods and is ranked 32nd. By contrast the internationals have what you might expect, a melting pot of cultures and ages. They have two ageing superstars in Nick Price and Greg Norman, and a third who is in his golfing prime in Els. They also have in Vijay Singh the only man other than Woods to have won a major championship this year. But more than anything else the international team have what it takes to pack a bag every week, hike halfway around the world and earn a living on the golf course.
The US team put their defeat in Melbourne down to the fact that they were away from home too close to Christmas! On that basis home advantage should count for everything this week, but most of the international team also call the US home, so put your money on a repeat dose of humiliation for America.