Fred Couples posted a new blog on the Presidents Cup on Tuesday. From PGATOUR.com:
Here we are in the second week of September, less than a month away from the start of The Presidents Cup. I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be this close to heading to Harding Park and getting the matches started.
A lot has happened since early August. Most importantly, the teams are set. We rounded out the squads last week by making our Captain’s Picks in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. It was a busy day and included a very special stop, but I will get to that in a minute. Let’s talk about the United States team.
We have a nice blend of players, and I really like some of the potential pairings we could see during the foursomes and four-ball sessions. Jay Haas, my assistant captain, and I have been tossing ideas back and forth regarding pairings.
Obviously when you have a team that includes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, it makes the captain’s job easier. Steve Stricker is fresh off his third victory of the season and is playing as well as anyone in the world right now. It’s also nice knowing we have a handful of guys with a wealth of match-play experience in international competition.
Players like Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard have been through these matches before, as well as countless Ryder Cups, and pair nicely with just about everyone on the team. Anthony Kim, one of our two rookies along with Sean O’Hair, cut his teeth in international competition in last year’s Ryder Cup and will provide a spark for this team as well.
As you know, I’ve selected Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan with my two Captain’s Picks. Both have played great all year and have experience in The Presidents Cup after competing at Royal Montreal in 2007. They are two great additions to the team, and I know that they will come to Harding Park ready to compete.
Now, back to our day in Washington last week to announce our Captain’s Picks. The day began with a press conference at the National Press Club, where Greg and I announced our picks. I had made it pretty clear a couple weeks ago that I was leaning toward Lucas and Hunter, but Greg kept everyone in the dark regarding his picks, Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott. We answered a few questions from the media regarding why we picked who we did, thoughts on Harding Park and what kind of final preparations we will be making in the last couple of weeks leading up to The Presidents Cup.
After the press conference, we went to the White House for a brief meeting with President Obama, who will serve as Honorary Chairman of The Presidents Cup. We only had a short time with the president given his busy schedule but were able to spend a little more time with Vice President Biden, who is an avid golfer. I do appreciate the president and vice president lending their support to The Presidents Cup, and it was great to hear their enthusiastic support first hand.
With the PGA TOUR Playoffs finishing up at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, my guys will have a chance to get one more week of competitive golf under their belts — and a tough test, at that — and then rest up before we all travel to San Francisco. Like I said before, this has been a long, fun process, and I can’t wait to get things started in a few weeks at Harding Park.