Adam Scott?? USA Continues President's Cup Dominance

I'll eat virtually anything, but one thing I don't like to eat is crow. Luckily for me, my simple (yet effective!) analysis yielded exactly the results that I anticipated. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson each went undefeated (5-0-0 and 4-0-1, respectively) draining putt after putt and hitting shot after ridiculous shot. If you haven't seen Tiger's 218 yard 3-iron blast to within 8 feet for eagle on the 18th hole on Saturday's Foursomes match against the short-hitting Mike Weir and Tim Clark, which Steve Stricker rolled in to come from behind and win 1-up, I highly recommend visiting ESPN.com for the highlight video. Stricker turned out to be a perfect teammate for Woods, something that Corey Pavin should keep in mind as he leads the U.S. Team in next year's Ryder Cup matches.

Camilo Villegas and Retief Goosen were the biggest disappointments for the International team at a combined 0-7-1, but Greg Norman's surprising captain's pick in Adam Scott cost the International team precious points that MAY have kept the match much closer down the stretch. Scott was the only player on either team to be ranked outside of the top 50 (he was ranked 53 at the time of the pick, and as of October 4th he had dropped to 65th). While his talent is undeniable, Scott was having a terrible 2009 season and looked as if he hadn't hit a putt in weeks during the matches. To Norman's credit, his other captain's pick Ryo Ishikawa turned in the single best performance along with Ernie Els (both 3-2-0), which goes to highlight how critical the captain's picks can actually be.

Based on the World Golf Rankings as of September 6th, some other possible picks that Norman could have chosen were Shingo Katayama, Jeev Milkha Singh and Rory Sabbatini. It's easy to see how Norman chose Scott - Scott is a protege of Norman and a fellow Ausie - but his putting inconsistencies and new swing issues left many wondering if Scott could live up to expectations.

U.S. members Sean O'Hair and Hunter Mahan (a captain's pick for Fred Couples) also made great contributions throughout the matches. The U.S. now has a solid lineup of young talent with both Ryder and President's Cup experience. With veteran leadership from Woods, Mickelson, Cink and Furyk, I think the U.S. has an excellent chance in winning the Ryder Cup next year as well. Momentum coming into the matches this year played a huge role in the success of the U.S. squad, so let's hope our players finish the 2010 season strongly and retain that which they currently have in their possession:

President's Cup - Look to the Red, White and Blue

Now, a guy like myself can be very long-winded in breaking down team competitions. Player stats, past and current performances, course design and conditions...these are just some of the things that I can ramble on and on about, but in the interest of being concise and saving some time, here is my prediction for this year's President's Cup, taking place at Harding Park in San Francisco...

Look for Team USA to dominate.

Or at least win.

The field of IPNFE (International Players Not From Europe), as I call it, is simply not as deep nor as experienced as the squad that the USA has assembled. The international team has a total of 10 wins in 2009, with 4 of them coming on the Japan Golf Tour by Ryo Ishikawa. At only 18, Ishikawa is undoubtedly an incredible talent, but consider that he is Greg Norman's personal pick. The top 6 players points-wise on the International Team (Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els and Angel Cabrera, in that order) only have 4 wins total in 2009. The other 2 remaining wins were provided by Y.E. Yang, who edged out Tiger Woods in a spectacular display of golf at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine.

In comparison, the U.S. Team has 19 total wins in 2009, virtually double that of the International team, with all wins coming from PGA Tour events. The top 6 players points-wise on the U.S. Team (Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry and Zack Johnson, in that order) account for a whopping 16 of the 19 wins in 2009. Fred Couple's captain's picks are also spectacular choices; Lucas Glover won the U.S. Open and Hunter Mahan has been freakishly consistent, with only 1 missed cut in 24 tournaments.

Considering momentum, it is vital to note that the U.S. Team's top two players (Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson) have had recent end-of-season wins that would make them appear to be in top form coming into this event. Woods won back-to-back on August 2nd and 9th, and then again on September 13th, while also winning the season-long FedEx Cup. Mickelson came off a 6-month drought to win the Tour Championship on September 27th, which came as very nice surprise to most of the golf world considering he had taken much of the season off to help his wife battle breast cancer.

The U.S. Team has won the President's Cup 5 out of 7 times outright, with a tie going to both sides in the historic battle at Fancourt in South Africa in 2003 as Tiger Woods and Ernie Els battled into the darkness and team captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player fittingly determining that the contest should end in a tie. While anything is possible in team competition, I'm firmly convinced that Fred Couple's easy-going attitude and the overall arsenal of talent prevalent on the U.S. Team will help the U.S. retain the cup but provide incredible drama nonetheless.