Daily Archives: August 26, 2011

Fred Couples and Tiger Woods at the 2009 Presidents Cup (Getty)

Tiger Woods has been selected as a captain’s pick (one of two) to join the U.S. Roster for the 2011 Presidents Cup.  This year’s Cup will be held at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Victoria, Australia.  Captain Fred Couples made no bones about it: “when you’re the best player in the world for 12 straight years and you’re not on a team, there’s something wrong.” (ESPN)

It will be Tiger’s seventh Presidents Cup appearance, second most all time for the U.S.  Phil Mickelson has the most appearances – all of them (nine, if he plays this year).

Considering Woods’ poor play recently, it’s a controversial pick.  Statistically, there are others more deserving.  In fact, Tiger is now ranked 36th in the world and 14th amongst American golfers (latest golf rankings here). However, a player’s potential play is always a consideration.

The Presidents Cup was first organized and played in 1994.  It pits the World against the U.S.A (minus Europe) every two years.  It has the same format – 12 players a team locking horns in match play – as the Ryder Cup (Europe vs. U.S.A.), though there are six more matches.

The U.S. has dominated the series so far, but if you look at those rankings again, you’ll see that five of the top twenty golfers are now from outside the U.S. and Europe -  from Australia, South Africa and Korea.

Here are the results of every Presidents Cup:

* The 2002 Presidents Cup was pushed back a year when the 2001 Ryder Cup was cancelled and pushed to 2002 due to the September 11 attacks.