Picks appear more complicated for Norman

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Fred Couples (left) and Greg Norman will make their captain's selections on Sept. 8.

Listening to U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples talk about the "five or six" guys he has his eye on as potential Captain's picks, you get the feeling his mind already made up on who the two will be when he makes the official announcement Sept. 8.

Meanwhile, things sound more complicated on the International side, with Captain Greg Norman looking at as many as 10 or 11 different players for two spots. Norman is faced with the difficulty of various language barriers and the familiarity among a wider swath of players.

"I've got to look at players who have been with players in the past and how many times they have played together," Norman said Tuesday during a news conference involving both captains. "It's easy when you look down the American list, you know that there's a very good chance most of these guys have played against each other.

"I have the dilemma of trying to balance it out. Do you put two guys from one nation together because of the language barrier?"

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Couples said Tuesday that Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan are about 80 percent on the team. In other words, unless something drastic happens, expect to see those two picked.

"It could change in three weeks, but I don't foresee anyone losing their game that's playing well," Couples said. "There's a lot of golf to be played from here to the Presidents Cup.

"Anyone out there; Jerry Kelly goes second in one event and wins at the Barclays, he'd probably be playing some of his best golf two weeks before the Presidents Cup."

To that point, Couples -- and Norman -- both said they'd tend to lean toward players who were in good form rather than players who might have more experience. Glover and Mahan certainly fit that mold -- since winning the U.S. Open, Glover has two fifth-place finishes, including one at the PGA Championship, and a tie for 11th, while Mahan has six top-10s, including four in his last six weeks.

That means the chances of David Toms or Brian Gay making the team are slim. Toms, who is also close friends with Couples, does have seven top-10s this year, plus a wealth of international match experience, but he's missed two of his last four cuts. Gay, who Couples hasn't spoken to since the British Open, has a pair of wins, but hasn't played well and may be nursing an injury, according to Couples.

"If they all continue the way they are playing, then Brian Gay has got to step it up," Couples said. "Hunter Mahan has played some incredible golf, and Lucas Glover has had a fantastic summer."

One of those players who likely isn't on Norman's Internationals short list is Adam Scott, who Norman said he hasn't spoken much with this year amid the Aussie's struggles -- Scott has missed nine of 16 cuts, including six in a row at one point, and has twice shot in the 80s this year.

So who is Norman likely to select?

"A lot of the guys who are on my list are playing the next couple of weeks," Norman said. That's everyone from Jeev Milkha Singh, to Matthew Goggin, to K.J. Choi.

"There might be some players who played well at the beginning of the year and are starting to not show the form they need to play," Norman added. "And the players who might be showing form and just step right up and say, 'Here I am, I want to play, my game is really sharp, look at my last three weeks' performance.'"