Captains Nicklaus and Player puzzling over their roster options  PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator When Jack Nicklaus used to venture up north to play in the Canadian Open, his wife Barbara would leave him with some parting advice.  Captains Gary Player (l) and Jack Nicklaus know that the competition will be fierce, but that the Presidents Cup is also all about the fun. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)
"My wife kept sending me back to Canada and she said, 'I'm going to send you back until you do it right'," said Nicklaus. "She sent me back, a lot of times. I finished second seven times, but never quite won." But when Nicklaus heads back up to captain the United States squad at the 2007 Presidents Cup -- which pits 12 golfers from the U.S. against a dozen of the best from around the world, excluding Europe -- another runner-up finish would be a last-place finish in the two-team competition. And he doesn't want that, though Nicklaus knows victory will be tough, with opposing captain Gary Player fielding an ultra-talented International squad for the event held at The Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, from Sept. 27-30. "I think that the game is a stronger game outside of the United States than it is inside the United States today," said Nicklaus, citing the fact that just 22 of the 64 players in the 2007 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in late February were from the United States. Could the U.S. be the underdog, despite having won the competition four times and tied once in six tries? "We've got some very, very good players in the United States and we'll have a very representative team," said Nicklaus. "I certainly could care less whether I position myself as an underdog or as a favorite. It really doesn't make any difference to me. They are all going to come here in September, and they are going to play, and whoever walks away with the most points, wins." It's hard for the two captains to predict their exact teams, since the competition is still 17 weeks out and 10 players make it onto the squads based on points accumulated up until the 2007 PGA Championship. With 10 tournaments to go, plus two Captain's picks to round out the 12-man teams, Nicklaus and Player don't have the exact list. But that doesn't mean they don't have a strategy. "It's a long way to go. We've still got another 10 tournaments. We've got another three majors. We've only played one of the majors. And whoever wins the major, I made it very clear to my team, whoever wins a major is automatically in the team," said Player. Player knows though, that no matter who he chooses or how the team pans out, not everyone will be pleased. Take 2005, when he took a chance as captain on little-known South African Trevor Immelman, much to the dismay of some Australian media who wanted a fellow Aussie to be picked. "The (Australians) already had five or six players on the team, and yet the newspapers, they crucified me and said, "Who is this Trevor Immelman?" Well, he happens to be one of the ten best players in the world today, thank goodness," said Player. "But you're going to take some heat because, as the old saying says, you cannot satisfy them all." For Nicklaus, his team currently consists of the veteran -- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, as well as the not-so-experienced, like recent Ryder Cuppers Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich, 2003 Presidents Cup team member Charles Howell III and John Rollins, the only one in the top-10 who hasn't competed in a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup. "I think a lot will depend on my team from an experience standpoint. I've got four or five fellas here that are actually on the team right now that have very little experience, so more than likely I would probably pick experience to add to the team," said Nicklaus, who added that he'd enlist the help of Woods and Mickelson to acclimate the newer players. So who would Nicklaus pick right now in the No. 11 and 12 spots if given an option? "I'd probably like to get Stephen Ames and Mike Weir on my team," quipped Nicklaus, referring to the two Canadians (and thus not eligible for Nicklaus' squad) who are extremely popular with their fellow countrymen and would draw headlines and crowds at the event the captains think will create excitement for golf in Canada. Selecting Canadians could be a touchy subject for Player, who had a quick response when asked if sentimentality would factor into his decision-making process and cause him to pick No. 17 Weir and/or No. 15 Ames. "Is this a sentimental tournament or is it to try and win? That's the big question and it's a long way to go," said Player, who quickly added, "obviously Mike Weir having been such a predominant player and such a wonderful gentlemen, I look at the (points) list -- my office sends this list wherever I am every week -- and the first person I happen to look for is Mike Weir because I realize we're playing in Canada." Player, the "International Ambassador for Golf," is pleasantly surprised at how the game has grown, from Nicklaus building golf courses in China to the dominance of players from Mexico, South Africa, Australia, Japan, Korea and many others on the men's and women's tours. Though he used to cheer for Europe in the Ryder Cup competition "because they were hammered every single year" by the United States, he knows the Americans no longer dominate that competition or the PGA TOUR. "I'm sure you'll agree with me, if we have a team of 20 players on a team, Europe and America and the Rest of the World, it would be virtually very hard for the Rest of the World to lose because you would have so many players that are just so high up on the list," said Player, obviously optimistic about his teams chances to take the trophy from the defending champion U.S. squad in September. "You've got all of these Australians, and South Africans and Argentineans, and they are just incredible golfers." Having served as captains for the 2003 and 2005 Presidents Cup competitions as well, the two legends and notable storytellers share an endless supply of funny anecdotes from the biennial event. As Nicklaus explained, the format consisting of 34 matches -- 11 foursomes (alternate shot), 11 four-ball (better ball) matches and 12 singles matches -- is supposed to be enjoyable but competitive. In fact, he sees it as preferable to the Ryder Cup, where matches are created randomly, while the Presidents Cup captains have more control since they alternate in setting their lineups. For instance, Player will put down a name first, then Nicklaus gets a turn, so this allows for a greater chance of a big-name match-up. It also allows for some captaincy fun. During the 1998 Presidents Cup in Australia, Nicklaus heard that Greg Norman did not want to play up-and-coming superstar Woods. "But Tiger told me, when I went into the pairings, he said, 'I want to play Norman.' So my job as captain of the American Team was to get Norman for Tiger," said Nicklaus. "It got down to the last two -- there was two pairings left and [International Captain] Peter Thomson was picking first. So Norman was had; whether he wanted to be or not, because whatever Peter picked, I could match Tiger or back off to the next match. "And Norman said, 'Why did you do that to me?'" continued Nicklaus. "I said, 'Hey, you're not on my team. Greg Norman, you're a friend of mine, but that's beside the point. ... Tiger had requested, if I (could), to get you for him. Have a good day." Never one short of words, Player joked in response, "Now I might have to do the same thing with Rory Sabbatini and Tiger." And as he brought laughter to the room, he reminded all that the competition will likely be a fierce one, but it's also all about the fun. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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