Blog: It's never too early to start job of captain

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Fred Couples (left) and Greg Norman anchored their individual Presidents Cup teams when the competition was started in the mid-1990s.

Editor's note: PGATOUR.COM will have a blog from a different player each week during the 2009 season. This week, we feature Fred Couples, who will serve as captain of the United States' squad in the 2009 Presidents Cup. Couples, 49, is still a vaunted player - he made 18 appearances in 2008 on the PGA TOUR with a best finish of T4 in the Shell Houston Open.

December was a busy month for me, so it was nice to get some rest during the holidays. I played in the Merrill Lynch Shootout, which is an event I've always enjoyed -- but it was especially fun to participate this year now that the tournament's host, Greg Norman, is captain for the International Presidents Cup Team. Greg and I have known each other for a long time, and captaining The Presidents Cup together this year is a new and exciting challenge for both of us.

Stewart Cink, a perennial Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team member, was my partner at Merrill Lynch. Stewart and I chatted a bit about The Presidents Cup, and I let him know I'm counting on him to make the team given his past experience in the event.

The following week I played in the Chevron World Challenge, hosted of course by Tiger Woods. It was great to see Tiger throughout the week, and I again needled him about playing his way onto the Team so I won't have to use one of my two Captain's Picks on him.

With the new year upon us, I'll begin to focus more and more on the U.S. Team standings. With double points available each week, those who play well this year will be able to quickly move up the points list. I intend to play a full schedule the first half of the season so I'll have a great opportunity to see for myself which players are off to a strong start.

One of the fun things I get to do as captain of the U.S. Team is to choose the players' uniforms for the week. I've spent a fair bit of time on this the last couple of months and just about have them finalized. I've chosen what I think are some unique colors and styles for the practice rounds, saving the traditional red, white and blue color schemes for the four competition days.

Even though there are nine months left until The Presidents Cup, there's much to do. I'm sure the time will pass quickly as a result. I look forward to sharing the experience with you periodically in the upcoming months, but in the meantime, best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2009.