Photo by Pete Souza/White House

Presidents Cup Captains Fred Couples (United States) and Nick Price (International) made a White House visit on Tuesday and met with President Barack Obama, the honorary chairman of The Presidents Cup. Click here for the full story

Nick Price, the International Captain for the 2013 Presidents Cup, announced his three Captain’s Assistants on Tuesday. One of his assistants is Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama, who becomes the first Asian assistant in the history of The Presidents Cup.

”Obviously with the dynamics of our team, I felt it really important to have someone from Asia involved in it,” Price said during a news conference in Dublin, Ohio, site of next year’s Presidents Cup.

Maruyama was a member of the International Presidents Cup Team in 1998 and 2000. He posted a 5-0-0 record in the 1998 matches, helping lead the International Team to its lone outright victory in The Presidents Cup.

Maruyama is one of four players in event history to go 5-0 (Mark O'Meara, 1996; Tiger Woods, 2009; Jim Furyk, 2011). His overall record in two appearances is 6-2-0. Maruyama has won three events on the PGA TOUR and 10 on the Japan Golf Tour, most recently the 2009 Golf Nippon Series JT Cup.

In the 2011 Presidents Cup in Melbourne, Australia, four of the 12 members of the International team were from Asia – Koreans K.J. Choi, K.T. Kim and Y.E. Yang, and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa. Every International team except the 2005 squad has had at least one player from Asia.

Price said he intends to lean on Maruyama for advice with the pairings.

“He'll help me, I know, with some of the decision making,” Price said. “There could be two Koreans, two Japanese -- there could be four Asians on the team. I really felt he would have a better understanding of how to pair the guys.”

Plus, added Price, Maruyama will be an asset in the team room.

“He has a smile and a demeanor about him that is just second to none,” Price said. “He loves to joke. He loves to tell stories. He loves -- he's just got a passion for life.”

Price’s other two Captain’s assistants are from his native Zimbabwe – Mark McNulty and Tony Johnstone.

U.S. Captain Fred Couples tabbed Jay Haas as one of his assistants, and will announce the other two at a later date.

Click here for more on The Presidents Cup assistants | Full news conference transcript

Fred Couples and Nick Price will serve as captains of the U.S. and International Teams, respectively, for the 2013 Presidents Cup 2013 at Muirfield Village. Price will be a Captain for the first time, while Couples will lead the Americans for the third time.

You thoughts? Will Price be able to lead the Internationals to victory? Will Couples continue to enjoy success? Leave your comments below.

NAPLES, Fla. -- PGA TOUR rookies Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele fired a 10-under 62 in Saturday’s best ball format to take a one-shot lead over Champions Tour members Nick Price and Mark Calcavecchia at the Franklin Templeton Shootout. The two pairings, playing in the final group, entered Saturday’s second round tied atop the leaderboard at Tiburon Golf Club. Calcavecchia and Price started slow Saturday but a late rally, including a birdie by Calcavecchia on the 18th, brought the veterans back within one shot of the lead. Saturday’s best round was a 12-under 60 belonging to Rory Sabbatini and Jhonattan Vegas who enter Sunday’s scramble two shots off the pace. Rickie Fowler and Camilo Villegas (63) are three back. Two teams -- Jerry Kelly-Steve Stricker and Kenny Perry-Scott Stallings -- head into Sunday four back at 15 under. CLICK HERE to read more about Round 2

By Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.COM

BETHESDA, Md. -- Martin Kaymer walked off the course amazed at Rory McIlroy's performance.

He didn't see a lot of shots, but he saw enough to call McIlroy's game fantastic.

"The way he plays golf, it's a different golf,'' said Kaymer, who won his first major last August at the PGA Championship. "It's close to perfect.''

". . . .It is great for him to win the event early in his career. He's only 22 years old and especially after what happened at the Masters, you know, all the eyes on him. And to finally to bring it home and to win not only, I would say, the biggest over there, anyway, besides the Masters, but it's the U.S. Open, if you are the champion of the United States, it's quite impressive. And to be the second Irish. I mean, I'm very happy for him and for his family, as well. He has great parents. It's great to see.''

Kaymer did say, though, that Congressional was . . . well, not Pebble Beach or Pinehurst.

"It's not really a U.S. Open golf course, to be honest,'' Kaymer said. "It plays softer. You have birdie chances the first nine  It plays fairly easy. If you hit the fairways, you can go straight at the flags. And the greens, they roll along. Still, 16‑under, or wherever he'll finish today, it's very impressive and I'm very happy for him.''

McIlroy's expected win will also give the Internationals a string of five consecutive major championships for the first time ever. Internationals held four in a row in 1994 -- Jose Maria Olazabal (Masters), Ernie Els (U.S. Open) and Nick Price (British Open, PGA).

When asked what he thought that said about American golf, Kaymer said, "It says, I think, that the Americans struggle a little bit.  Since Tiger (Woods) has been on a, how do you say, a little down.''

He added that the advent of the World Golf Championships have strengthened international golf, but that it was Padraig Harrington, who won three of six majors (2007, 2008 British Opens; 2008 PGA Championship) "gave us at least the belief that we can win here in America, as well."

BETHESDA, Md. -- You could say the odds are with Rory McIlroy. McIlroy's six-stroke lead ties Tiger Woods in 2000 at Pebble Beach for the largest 36 hole lead. Woods went on to win by 15 shots over Ernie Els. In the other majors, record 36-hole leaders have won five of six times. The largest 36-hole lead at the Masters is five strokes -- by Herman Keiser in 1946, Jack Nicklaus in 1975 and Raymond Floyd in 1976. All three players went on to win. Louis Oosthuizen's five-stroke lead at last year's British Open at St. Andrews tied Bobby Clampett's lead at Royal Troon in 1982. Oosthuizen won, Clampett did not. Nick Price holds the 36-hole lead record in the PGA. He led in 1994 and went on to win.    

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - The winds have quieted a touch during the second round of The Honda Classic, but conditions remain difficult.

The stroke average halfway through the morning wave of 73.1 is almost a stroke less than it was during the first round (73.8).  The projected cut is 7 over, which would match the highest cut in The Honda’s 39-year history. The highest cut at a non-major in PGA TOUR history is 13 over at the Memorial tournament presented by Morgan Stanley in 1990 and 1976.

Matt Kuchar, who won the 2002 Honda Classic, is 2 under through nine holes to move into a tie for the lead with Spencer Levin at 3 under. Kuchar played the Bear Trap in 1 under.

Y.E. Yang, who won here in 2009, was 1 under early in his round to also move to 3 under, but he bogeyed the 13 ^th and double-bogeyed the 16 ^th to fall back to even par.

Nick Price, playing in his first PGA TOUR even in more than three years, is 3 over through 14 holes and is currently tied for 41st. -- Craig Dolch

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Even with a bogey at the par-3 17 ^th hole and a lipped-out birdie try at No. 18, Nick Price finished tied for ninth after an even-par 70 Thursday.

Not bad for a 54-year-old playing in his first PGA TOUR event in three years.

“I am really happy,” Price said. “I would have liked to have finished under par, but it was a lot of fun. I had no expectations at all.”

Price, who won the Honda Classic in 1994, got into the field by taking his one-time exemption for being in the top-50 on the all-time money list. The long Champion Course doesn’t fit his game, but the Hall-of-Famer wanted to play because it’s just 20 minutes from his Jupiter Island home.

“I probably wore out the grooves on my long irons,” Price said. “I haven’t hit that many 3-irons or 4-irons the last year on the Champions Tour. But I’ve always fancied myself as a good wind player. It was all about being patient today.”

Price said his expectations haven’t changed much after the solid start. He will be among the first players off the tee for the second round, when the winds are supposed to continue to blow in the 20-mph range.

“I really want to make the cut, because I think that would be an achievement,” Price said. “It’s hard playing against these young guys. But I want to have the same approach as today. Just keep my head down and make pars.” -- Craig Dolch

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- It has been more than three years since Nick Price last played in a PGA TOUR event, but the South African’s name popped up on the leaderboard late Thursday when he moved to 1 under after a birdie at the 15 ^th hole.

Price is currently tied for sixth place.

Price won The Honda Classic in 1994, and he gained entry into this week’s field by taking his one-time exemption for being in the top-50 on the all-time money list.

"My game is definitely in a lot better shape than the last time I played on the PGA TOUR in 2008," Price said earlier this week. "I'm just happy to be out here to be honest and just to enjoy and see some familiar faces. I'm amazed at how many of the guys, the officials and caddies that are still out there, some of them should be on the Champions Tour with us." -- Criag Dolch