Presidents Cup Blog: Lucas Glover
 
Sep. 26, 2007

Editor's note: Lucas Glover has been writing a blog periodically for PGATOUR.com. One of U.S. skipper Jack Nicklaus's two Captain's Picks, Glover is playing in his first Presidents Cup this week. He filed this edition prior to the Opening Ceremonies.

ILE BIZARD, MONTREAL, Canada -- I went down to Sea Island, Ga., last week and worked on my game a little bit to get ready for the Presidents Cup. I get a lot more done down there than at home since they have such a good practice facility and there are just not as many distractions. I practiced for a couple of days and took a day off, then practiced for a few more days and took another day off.

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Glover: "Rookies don?t rah-rah." (WireImage)

I worked on my putting a good bit, because in match play, sometimes it doesn't really matter where you hit it, but you've got to make some putts. All of the little ones and a couple bombs never hurt. So I put in a lot of work on the short game and tried to get a lot of rest, at the same time. If I play every match, that's five matches, 90 holes in four days, and I've never done that. So, I could be tired.

I got here Sunday night, and it's been great. I think it's the highest honor we can have is to wear the U.S. flag on our shirt or on our hat or on our bag. To be able to make it this year was first of all a dream come true, and second of all, one of the goals I set out for this year.

Now I have tomorrow to prove I belong, and there's the issue at hand now. To get to play for Jack Nicklaus and get to know him is something special, too. It was pretty neat yesterday.

He was kind of messing around with Steve Stricker and Jeff Sluman in the bunker there. It was great to crowd around him and get some tips from him and see how he plays certain shots. It was cool standing on the outside looking in and getting his thoughts. He's a great guy and he treats us all with respect. He needles us a little bit, too, but I'm trying to stay out of that. I don't want that kind of pressure yet. All in all, two, days into this, it's been pretty unbelievable.

It's been pretty relaxed so far, but I know that will change. We've just been getting to know each other and figuring out who we're going to play with, things like that. But I think we will get a little of the rah-rah stuff going tonight. I'm playing with Scott Verplank in the Foursomes, and I'm really looking forward to it. Rookies don't rah-rah, though.

I might rah-rah tomorrow if Scotty is on fire or something -- just pat him on the back and tell him out good he is and be done with it -- but I don't think it's our place to say anything if we've never been there.

We had a nice dinner at the hotel Tuesday night hosted by the Prime Minister of Canada. It was great. Everyone dressed up and the wives looked beautiful. So it was good. But the most fun has been riding on the bus, listening to everybody's stories and everyone's jokes, and hanging out in the team room, just getting to know everybody a little bit better.

I'd like to say I knew everybody on the team but I didn't know Phil that well and I only knew Tiger a little bit. So it's been pretty neat. My wife and I talked to Tiger a little bit at dinner last night and learned a lot about him. I've also talked to Phil a lot and goofed off with him. So it's good getting to know those guys.

The ping-pong is getting a little heated, too. I'm not very good at it, but it's fun. I think Woody and Phil and Zach are in the title bracket. I've got to get warmed up to take them on.

I'm ready to get things under way tomorrow. I can't wait to play. The best advice I ever got about match play is what a lot of the old-timers always say -- you have to expect your opponent to make every shot and whether you're 3 up or 3 down.

You've got to be right there and then do one better, just kind of stay on the throttle a little bit more than normal. So that's what we'll do tomorrow.

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