|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
United they stand? 2002 will tell how much U.S. players covet Presidents Cup
Updated: Thursday December 14, 2000 1:44 PM
GAINESVILLE, Virginia (CNNSI.com) -- No sooner had the American team avenged a blowout loss in Australia with a romp of its own to win back the Presidents Cup, than the question turned to whether the top U.S. players will want to travel to South Africa to defend it. "We'll see how much they love this cup they just won," South African Ernie Els said. For a week, at least, they seemed to love it greatly, with American player after American player insisting that they took the duty of representing their country in the Presidents Cup seriously. It's hard to argue after seeing the results -- a 21 1/2-10 1/2 win that set a record for the young event. But it was clear by the subdued reaction of both the crowd and the players that this was no Ryder Cup. That's partly because most of the International players are friends with the U.S. players. Unlike most members of the European Ryder Cup team, they live in the United States and play on the PGA Tour.
And the Presidents Cup is still in its infancy. It began only in 1994, and it will take years to get a tradition and rivalry to grow. "You can't compare this event to the Ryder Cup because you're talking about 70 years of history with the other event," U.S. team member Phil Mickelson said. "In another 20 or 30 years we'll look back and say this is a really special event." Unlike last year's Ryder Cup final before a raucous crowd at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., the Presidents Cup was played out before fans who politely applauded good shots for both sides. It ended early, when Davis Love III made a routine par on the 15th hole to close out Els in the fifth match of the day. The only goal remaining for the U.S. team was to top the 20 1/2-11 1/2 thrashing two years ago in Australia, and that was accomplished when Notah Begay won 1-up over Retief Goosen. "We came in with a different attitude than we did in Australia," Love said. "We wanted to get the points record. Hopefully, it's a record that will never be broken." Seven American players won singles matches on the final day, including Tiger Woods, who closed out Vijay Singh with a birdie putt on the 17th hole. Woods then went to the 18th green to watch his former Stanford roommate Begay finish out. Woods finished 3-2 on a week where he was the big attraction, but not the big star. Love and Stewart Cink were both 4-0, and Kirk Triplett was 3-0-1. 
To Woods, it was far different from his Ryder Cup experiences -- and that wasn't necessarily bad. "This is the way it should be. People were applauding both shots and not saying bad things to players," Woods said. "That's because the fans are used to seeing these guys week in and week out. There' not that big continental divide." The American win was extra special for the players because it came as perhaps the last chapter in captain Ken Venturi's golf career. Venturi's grandfatherly style wore well on the players, who seemed to appreciate what the former U.S. Open champion has meant to the game. "This is his last great thing in golf. We didn't want to send him out on a sour note," Love said. Venturi, who is winding down his role as a CBS golf analyst next year, looked moved as he was given the cup. "This is one of the greatest moments of my life," he said. If it ranked that high for the American players, they didn't show it. There was no champagne celebration as in the Ryder Cup, just some smiles and handshakes in a quiet win. That contrasted with Australia two years ago, when Els and his teammates partied in a casino until 6 a.m. after winning the cup. "This cup really means a lot to our team because it's the only cup we play for," Els said. "We don't have a Ryder Cup." The U.S. team does, though, and some players had already grumbled privately about having to travel to South Africa two years from now after going to England next year for the Ryder Cup. The top U.S. players sidestepped questions about whether they would go to South Africa, though Loren Roberts said he would definitely go if picked for the team. "What the internationals miss is we've got a Ryder Cup coming up 12 months from now," Love said. "We've got a lot on our plate right now before we star thinking about South Africa." Mickelson suggested the focus ought to be on the record-setting win for the United States, which now holds both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup for the first time since 1995. "I think it means a lot to the U.S. team because we've taken a lot of criticism the last two years," Mickelson said. "To have both cups in the United States now means a lot to the players." We'll see how much in two years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
