Man it was hard to look at Tiger and Steve Stricker wearing those nauseating Argyle pattern shirts. I guess they and the rest of the Presidents Cup team overcame the terrible wardrobe and pulled out a convincing win.
Tiger and the Ryder Cup
Now that Tiger was undefeated in the Presidents Cup, the Ryder Cup talk will be sure to follow. Tiger’s Ryder Cup record is not even at the level of mediocre, and the USA team won without him last year. Let the discussion begin.
Man it is strange to see Tiger Woods wearing a scotch tape pattern on his shirt. I think maybe he can’t putt today because he’s being distracted by his shirt.
I’ve been using OGIO travel bags and luggage for years now. OGIO (sponsor of HOG Space Fantasy Golf 2009) is THE best, hands down. Apparently the Presidents Cup team has been reading my OGIO reviews because they’ve chosen OGIO as their official travel gear.
Of course the other possibility is that since captain Fred Couples is an OGIO guy, he made that choice. Nope. They picked it because they all ready my blogs. Yeah that’s it.
Links:
“Monster conquers New York” – My OGIO Monster travel bag review
OGIO Terminal luggage review
OGIO Shoester shoe bag review
OGIO Devolver video
I have many more OGIO blogs, just use the search to find them.
The Presidents Cup isn’t the Ryder Cup. But watching the Presidents Cup every other year beats the alternative, watching no golf. Team captains Greg Norman (my pal) and Fred Couples (my swing clone) announced their picks today.
Picks and HOG 2-bit analysis
Freddie picked Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan for the USA Team. These are very solid players. Very strong picks.
The Shark picked Ryo Ishikawa and fellow Aussie Adam Scott for the International Team. I’d call that one one for two. Ishikawa is very young, but could be a fearless good pick. I’m afraid that the Aussie connection may not pan out for the International Team though. Adam Scott has not been playing well. But you never know. Sometimes players perform better in a team environment, like Monty and Sergio Garcia.
Presidents Cup dates and location
October 8-11 (one of those days is my birthday, so get me a present soon)
Harding Park Golf Course
San Francisco, California
The U.S. won the President’s Cup yesterday with 18.5 points versus 15.5 for the International team. I was expecting to see a lackluster, uninspired appearance by the U.S. Team and I was happily surprised I didn’t. I could be one of the ones who expected the International team to lose handily without the help of Ernie Els but I knew they’d come well prepared and give the U.S. all they could handle.
The Fire
The U.S. Team seemed to have a fire burning that I haven’t seen in several Ryder Cups and President’s Cups. Perhaps this fire finally came as a result of being slammed by the press and the fans for their previous appearances. Perhaps they just got tired of being beaten by relative no-name (certain players excluded) opponents. Maybe it is that captain Jack Nicklaus found a way of inspiring his team, or finally found teams that gelled.
Whatever the reason, I loved watching the intensity of the matches. Several players seemed to elevate their games to higher levels during this event like Mike Weir and Fred Couples. What is it with Freddy seeming to own Vijay in these events? That was fun to watch. Tiger seemed to have a bit more of the team mentality this time around as well, even though he lost his individual match to Goosen.
Mr. Clutch
Clearly the big story of this President’s Cup is the performance of my newly named “Mr. Clutch” Chris DiMarco. DiMarco performed so well that captain Nicklaus picked him has the anchor player in the final match, rather than the seemingly standard pick Tiger Woods. How much does that tell you that Nicklaus put his faith in DiMarco as the anchor? The results showed that not only is Jack (my pal) smart, but DiMarco has some of the biggest golf balls out there.
DiMarco’s final match against the slow-playing ball-bomber Stuart Appleby, was some of the funnest and most intense golf I’ve watched. It was like watching two heavyweight boxers trade punches. But DiMarco was fighting out of his weight class and was outweighed by 50 yards off the tee.
The Shot
Most the highlights have been showing the final clutch putt DiMarco made on the first sudden death hole to seal the victory. That’s great. But the shot DiMarco hit from a terrible stance in the bunker was the difference maker. That amazing shot from 180 yards is what gave him the chance to make that clutch putt. There was almost no way he should have been able to knock that shot close enough to make the winning putt but he did. Simply clutch.
For a guy who hasn’t actually won a tournament since the 2002 Phoenix Open, DiMarco has some major respect in the golf world. Deservedly so.
« Previous
1
…
3
4
5
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
