Norman, Couples take a trip to the White House

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(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

From left, Captain Greg Norman, President Barack Obama, Commissioner Tim Finchem, Captain Fred Couples, and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Some of the sightseers who came to the White House on Tuesday afternoon got an added bonus.

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"Look -- there's Greg Norman," one man said excitedly as he aimed his camera through the wrought iron fence posts.

Sure enough, the man with those chiseled features and that unmistakable shock of blond hair was standing on the driveway with his wife, tennis great Chris Evert. Norman, who will guide the International Team at the Presidents Cup next month, had an important mission to fulfill.

Norman's American counterpart, Fred Couples, was waiting there, too, with his girlfriend, Julie Barnett, and PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and his wife, Holly. The fan's camera hit overdrive to capture the scene.

Two stragglers were still clearing security -- which included putting the gleaming gold Presidents Cup and Norman's Rossa putter through an x-ray machine. Once everyone had been properly buzzed in, the group proceeded to the West Wing.

They walked past a battery of TV cameras on the ready in case news broke out and their talking heads had need of a remote shot. Still photographers got their chance the closer the group of eight got to the front door.

Once inside the West Wing, the Commissioner, the captains and their significant others were to meet President Barack Obama for a photo op in the Oval Office. Obama is the honorary chairman of the Presidents Cup, which will be held Oct. 6-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco.

It was a busy day for the President. He delivered a speech to schoolchildren at an Arlington, Va., high school at noon and attended the swearing in of his U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Sonya Sotomayor, about two hours later. He'll address Congress on health care on Wednesday, too

So Couples, Norman and the rest of the group waited in the lobby of the West Wing for about 30 minutes. The room has a distinctly Western feel thanks to two large paintings, one of settlers gathered around a covered wagon and the other of a Native American riding a horse as the moon peeks over the horizon.

There were more modern touches, though. The massive antique bookcase that dominates the far wall contained about 50 volumes of the "Public Papers of the Presidents" -- from Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

While the group sat and waited, Norman asked Ty Votaw, the PGA TOUR's Executive Vice President of Communications and International Affairs, about the Olympic bid that he has spearheaded.

Votaw will spend the week of the Presidents Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the International Olympic Committee votes on whether to admit golf as a sport for the 2016 Games. He talked about the last push to persuade the voters and mentioned one particularly compelling photo he plans to include in the final presentations of a young boy from Namibia hitting golf balls on a sand golf course.

"Sand greens," Norman mused. "My first tournament win as an amateur came on sand greens."

As many times as the group had been to the White House -- Finchem and Evert were making their seventh visit and the tennis legend her third to the Oval Office itself -- there was an aura of anticipation. Just as there had been about 90 minutes earlier at the National Press Club when Norman announced Japan's Ryo Ishikawa and Australia's Adam Scott would complete his team and Couples chose Hunter Mahan and U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover to round out his.

And before the six went to meet the Commander in Chief, aides took the group to see Vice President Joe Biden's office. The VP is an avid -- and highly skilled -- golfer. A putter was propped against one of the two brocade couches within striking distance of three golf balls, the blue carpet a perfect practice area.

His bookcases were full of patches and the commemorative coins that different divisions of the military exchange with honored guests. An aide explained some of the changes Biden had made to the décor when he took office, like the dark periwinkle blue walls. The group talked U.S. Open tennis, as well.

Perhaps the coolest thing in the room, though, was the photo of Biden and the President taken during a round of golf. The President had his hand on Biden's back and the inscription on the matte said: "Joe, Give me a few tips, will ya?" And it was signed Barack Obama.

Suddenly, the Vice President strode into the room. He walked up to Norman and shook his hand, then reached out to Couples and everyone else in the room. When he got to Evert, though, Biden's voice boomed.

"You're the one I really wanted to meet," the Vice President said. "You're the real pro here."

He asked the group to sit down, and aides closed the door. The session in the Oval Office was private, too, as was a putting lesson on the South Lawn.

While the group was otherwise occupied, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, strode purposefully into the West Wing lobby. She rounded the receptionist's desk and stopped briefly to take a piece of candy, only to think better of it. One of the men in her entourage helped himself, though, grinning and saying simply, "I'll take hers."

About an hour after the President Cup captains arrived, they emerged from a door on the other side of the lobby, intent on catching flights home. As they walked down the Pennsylvania Avenue pedestrian mall to their limousines about 4:45 p.m., the day came full circle with several gentlemen in suits stopping and calling out Norman's name.