Friday, November 18, 2011

Mid-Way Through 2011 Presidents Cup - If It Was a Fight, They'd Stop It.

The US squad routed the Internationals in Saturday, (Friday here), foursome matches by a 4 -1 margin to take a commanding 11 - 6 overall lead in the 2011 Presidents Cup, held at Royal Melbourne, Melbourne, AU. Despite having five Aussies on their team and home course advantage, the Intl's are being thoroughly outclassed by an obviously more talented US team.   Even if the US only wins just two of the afternoon fourball contests, they'd only need 4 1/2 points out of twelve possible in the Sunday singles. Based on OWGR and money lists the Internationals were in over their heads before the first ball was in the air. The team matches were their hope since the US typically dominates singles.

The Watson/Simpson and Mickelson/Furyk pairings have decimated the opposition and remained undefeated after the morning rounds. So complete is the rout that even Tiger won his match with Dustin Johnson as sidekick. It may prove to be an announcer's nightmare to try to maintain viewer interest in such a lopsided affair.

Conditions at Royal Melbourne are 180 deg. from yesterday. Overnight and continual rain, coupled with dropping temperatures has reformed the scorched earth appearance from yesterday. Balls are actually holding on approach shots and putts, for the most part, seem to be staying on the greens.

Perhaps these biennial contests should evolve into a US against The World setup. One could argue against based on last year's Ryder Cup result, and that's a point well taken. Still, this permutation hasn't been very compelling from a competition standpoint. Nevertheless, Royal Melbourne has been a delight and proof that golf courses don't have to be 8,000 yards to challenge the world's best.







*Keep watching, something might happen.

2 comments:

  1. Seriously, what a snoozer. Only a major US implosion can save the Intl's. No matter what Tiger does in singles, Freddy C gets a pass with his selection because it's all about winning the Cup. With a dominant US team even if Tiger chops on Sunday, they win and get the benefit of the additional TV viewership. Thanks!

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  2. Yup, playing Woods near the end seems like a TV concession. Follow the $$$.

    Thanks for the look.

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