Int'l team seeks results through chemistry

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Stan Badz/PGA TOUR

Colombia's Camilo Villegas and Fiji's Vijay Singh play table tennis in the International team room.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The team room for the Americans? Probably akin to the living room at a frat house. The team room for the Internationals? More like a session of the United Nations, but without the alphabetical seating by country.

The key for both rooms at this week's Presidents Cup, however, remains the same -- create the kind of bond and unity that will translate into a win at Harding Park.

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The task, on the surface, seems much harder for International Captain Greg Norman. While the 12 Americans share a language, a country and similar backgrounds, the dozen International players come from a record-tying eight different countries, require three different translators and must juggle their cultural differences.

Just how much those differences have contributed to the lack of success for the Internationals in this competition -- they've won just one of the first seven Presidents Cup showdowns -- is debatable. But until they start winning a few more, it remains a potential issue. And not one that can be resolved by simply putting a ping-pong or pool table in the middle of the room.

"What's difficult is having the idle conversation," Norman said. "When you sit in a locker room with all (under) one flag, you can talk about what do you think about what the President is doing, what do you think about health care, or what do you think about sport, and what do you think about the playoffs, and you can really get a great connector going in that way.

"From our perspective, my perspective, you just have to make sure that they feel included with everything. And when you have a conversation, you have to make sure that they know exactly what you're saying."

Obviously, that would seem challenging given the language barriers that required Argentina's Angel Cabrera, Korea's Y.E. Yang and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa to use translators during their pre-tournament interview sessions this week. But the three actually understand more English than it might appear, and of course, the 12 International players all share the common language of golf.

They also share the common language of camaraderie. Communicating in action can sometimes be more powerful than communicating in words, such as when Yang faced off against Vijay Singh at the pool table earlier this week (they split two games).

"I think the language barrier," said Yang, the reigning PGA champion, "is minimal."

But what can't be minimalized is that some type of esprit de corps must exist for a team to thrive in these kinds of competitions. With the talent level so close, the difference can come down to which 12-man unit shows the most cohesiveness.

In some of the previous Presidents Cups, the Internationals arguably possessed a deeper squad on paper, but it's the Americans who have thrived. Meanwhile, in the alternate-year Ryder Cups, much of the credit for the Europeans' rise -- eight wins in the last 12 events since 1985 -- went to their ability to build an even stronger bond. Last year, of course, the Americans took back the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, despite not having Tiger Woods.

In those instances, the underdog role no doubt played a role in building that unity. That may be one reason why Mike Weir, one of the International team's elder statesmen -- this is his fifth Presidents Cup -- likes what he sees so far.

"(In previous years) we have been the hot team, players come playing well coming into this, and this year we are the opposite spectrum," Weir said. "And we are trying to use that as maybe that's a good thing that we are not the favorites this time.

"I think the other four times, I can't say that we felt like we were the underdogs -- we all felt like the favorites in our rooms -- but maybe this year, we do feel like maybe we can come from behind and play that underdog role maybe a little bit."

Weir said that at the first team dinner Monday "there was a different atmosphere ... compared to maybe in years past. There was maybe a little more enthusiasm and just ... a sense of purpose."

Certainly the chemistry of this year's International team could be quite different than in recent years. Three players -- Yang, Ishikawa and Camilo Villegas -- are making their Presidents Cup debuts, while Geoff Ogilvy is making just his second appearance. And with the switch in captains -- Norman in place of Gary Player, who led the International team in the three most recent competitions -- the Internationals are now playing for a guy who is much closer to them in age.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's better. But it's different. That might be a good thing for the team seeking its first Presidents Cup win in the United States.

And, as Ogilvy pointed out, you don't have to be one of the three Australians on this year's team to appreciate playing for the Shark.

"Greg is a contemporary hero kind of thing," Ogilvy said. "I never saw Gary in his prime. I grew up watching Greg and his successes and failures and the whole lot. He was Australia's hero. Just to be on the same bus as him every morning and in the same room having dinner is a pretty big thrill. And to have him kind of guiding you through, it's pretty exciting.

"I assume it's the same for non-Australians as well."

The bottom line, though, is whether Norman can rally his troops against an American squad that comes into Harding Park with more players in top form. The Internationals have always had fun at these things. But if early signs are any indication, they also seem deadly serious about the task at hand.

"I always felt like in the team room, we have a great spirit and atmosphere and the guys get along," said South African Tim Clark. "Unfortunately, it hasn't been too great of golf. This year, I think there's an emphasis on still having fun as a team, but I think now the guys want to play well and put in a good showing this week."

If that happens and the International team wins? Well, you don't need to speak the same language to enjoy success. The champagne tastes just as sweet for everybody in the room.