The verdict is unanimous. The Fancourt Links are going to be a tough nut to crack.
The world’s top golfers are priming themselves for a tough campaign on the links when Tiger Woods and his fellow Americans take on the international team spearheaded by Ernie Els and Vijay Singh from Thursday to Sunday.
Players of both teams echoed one another over the difficulties the links present after having tested the course in practice rounds on Tuesday.
”The course is playing very quickly,” said Woods. ”The fairways are fast and we are going to have to hit very straight. We are going to have to be very strategic off the tees.”
Woods, who is hoping to meet Nelson Mandela again, said that they could be playing a different game every day depnding on the wind.
”When I played in the heat on Monday, for instance, the sixth [par 4, 312m] and 14th [par 4, 330m] were driveable. But today they weren’t because the wind had come up.”
Els, the only one in the tournament who had played the links before, said they were ”definitely drier”.
”Whether we have good weather or not, the course is very fast,” said Els. ”A second shot on to the greens is very tricky because the difficulty is to keep the ball on the greens. They are undulating and very difficult to control.”
Fancourt’s links is one of the most demanding courses in South Africa, with players pleased to hit 10 over their scores on normal courses. Els’s best of 77 at the Fancourt Links bears testimony to the course that has imported tall grass that literally sticks to the ball embracing the fairways and greens.
And the bunkers are treacherous.
”There are a lot of very tricky bunkers,” said Nick Price, the most experienced player in the international team.
”The long hitters can get around the bunkers. But then they would have to contend with the wind, which can change every day.
”Today the wind was coming from the south west and Ernie reckons it can just as well be a south-easter tomorrow. So we have to be very strategic.”
Singh said he believed the international team could beat the Americans.
”I’m more excited about playing the Presidents Cup this time round than ever before,” said Singh.
”I reckon this event will grow bigger than the Ryder Cup. But it’s going to be very tricky out there.”
American team captain Jack Nicklaus said that although the course is strong and long, ”it depends how you use it. All I can say is that my guys like it a lot. It’s a fair course and will allow players to make gambles.
”To see Tiger out here with the rest of the guys a day earlier than usual for tournaments so they could get used to the course means that they want to play well.”
”We’re out here to win,” said Jim Furyk. ”It’s going to be intense, but friendly, which is a good thing, and should stay that way. We don’t want a repeat of Melbourne,” he said, referring to the United States’s 1998 defeat they suffered from the international team.
Gary Player said that he wants to see a Woods-Els showdown to the wire on Sunday to bring the team competition to a dramatic climax.
”That would be great for South Africa.”
Nicklaus said he would also like to see a Woods-Els showdown in the novel format that allows the captains to match up their sides against one another as opposed to drawing from a hat as is the case in the Ryder Cup.
”It’s a good thing,” said Nicklaus. ”The players like it and matching is a fun way to do it. It’s just difficult to pick the right eight on a day, thus leaving four players out.”
The captains will announce their pairings in their teams on Wednesday after which they will decide on the rival matchings.
”You can be rest assured that we will do the matchings in the spirit of the game to provide high theatre for the fans,” said Nicklaus. — Sapa