The United States staged a comeback from 4-1 down at the end of the first day to knock off the International Team 16-14 and retain the Presidents Cup for at least another two years.
As I sat and watched all four days of the event, I compiled a list of my thoughts about the Presidents Cup, and in some cases, the Ryder Cup.
*Having attended the Presidents Cup when it was at Harding Park, the event is truly the most exciting golf event I have ever attended. The patriotism is amazing, and it was chilling to hear the USA, USA chants throughout the week. The cheering and noise level is something I would love to see at all events.
*That being said, the Presidents Cup will never achieve the level of the Ryder Cup, at least in my lifetime. The geographic layout of the United States vs. Europe is far more intense than the International team as the players in the Presidents Cup are spread out too much to build the rapport that the players on the European team possess. When the Ryder Cup takes place across the pond, most of the crowd are Europeans. The Presidents Cup was in Australia and only a couple members of the team were Australian. Even the Captain Ernie Els is from South Africa. The fans were loud, but the sense of Nationalism is not as intense.
*One other thing that must change is the scoring system. A 15-15 tie means the teams share the Cup. That is ridiculous. The saying āto be the champ, you have to beat the champā resonates here. Like the Ryder Cup at tie at the end means the team that holds the Cup keeps the Cup.Ā The Presidents Cup has got to change.
*I am the only one that was disappointed not to see Patrick Reed take on Cameron Smith ā the most vocal about Reed’s ācheatingā allegations from the Hero World Challenge. Reed would have cleaned his clock. Watching the video of Reedās penalty in the Bahama tournament didnāt look good for Reed, but man, that guy is as competitive as it gets and is one you want out there on your team.
*The incident where his brother-in-law/caddy went into the stands after a guy had been vulgar in his taunting of Reed was ugly, but one question I have was where were the tournament officials during the first three days? Sure, on the final day there was more of a police presence and they did eject some fans, but it could have and should have been taken care of on the first day.
*During the singles it was driving me nuts when the announcers seemingly said during every match ā āThe Presidents Cup could be coming down to this match.ā I guess if you said it for each match, technically youād be right at the end of the day.
*To me, the Cup was over after the third day as the United States had too much depth not to win at least eight points. There was no way the U.S. players were going to wilt under the pressure. They have all won events and been in pressure situations where they were successful. And that was without the injured Brooks Koepka on the U.S. team.
*How about the performance from U.S. captain Tiger Woods? The man goes out and goes 3-0 and does an equally great job running the team. In fact, the biggest criticism Woods should get was sitting himself on day three after winning points in the first two days.
*Overall it was an enjoyable four days and by taking part in Australia it made for some prime time viewing on the West Coast, much like the tournaments that take place in Hawaii. Of course. my wife would disagree with that as I feel certain she would rather have me stay up to 8 a.m. instead of having her watch four straight days of golf!
By Dennis Miller