Captain Freddie puts his stamp on Presidents Cup

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Fred Couples captained the U.S. Presidents Cup Team to a triumphant victory at Harding Park in October.

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Fred Couples has long been one of the PGA TOUR's most popular players. Fellow pros love to be paired with him, galleries flock to see his effortless swing and handsome looks and international team captains never hesitated to make Couples one of their wild-card picks.

But Couples' popularity is shifting after he turned 50 this year. Within a few years, Couples may be known as the most popular captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup -- and perhaps, the Ryder Cup -- teams.

Couples' performance in leading the U.S. to an easy win over the International team in this year's Presidents Cup in San Francisco is a portend of things to come. His low-key style is perfect for these pressure-packed competitions.

Sure, Couples took some good grief when he considered naming comedian Robin Williams and NBA icon Michael Jordan as his assistant captains, but there was no madness to his method. And by the way, having MJ around the team during the week proved to be a wise move.

Couples made no bones about who he was catering to: His players. He talked about how many previous international captains had said they were going to pair players with whom they wanted, only for some reason that often didn't happen. With Couples, it did. Just ask Phil Mickelson and Justin Leonard, who were thrilled they finally got to play together (and won).

In my opinion, Couples is a slam dunk to be named a U.S. Ryder Cup captain, likely for the 2012 matches, and don't be surprised if he reprises his role as Presidents Cup captain several more times.

Now it's "Everybody Loves Captain Freddie."

Craig Dolch, a PGATOUR.COM columnist and former golf writer for the Palm Beach (Fla.) Post, is a popular figure in the press tent.