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Final thoughts on Presidents Cup
Sports Illustrated senior writer Gary Van Sickle will answer your questions every Thursday during the golf season. Click here to send him a question. The Presidents Cup, like the Solheim Cup, succeeded on at least one level. People are talking about it, which never happened before. When we look back on the event, the intensity of the Vijay Singh-Tiger Woods match may have stirred the first feelings of real rivalry. Then again, if the lame American players turn into wimps and bail out on going to South Africa for the matches in 2002, it won't mean a thing. More on the Presidents Cup in this week's Mailbag:
I always appreciate your insight about events in the golf world. As such, I can't wait to read what you think about Vijay Singh's caddie and the inscription on the back of his hat -- "TIGER WHO?" I didn't think it was a class move. Vijay seems to have an awfully big chip on his shoulder.
I assume players are contractually required to use their sponsor's equipment, but are there exceptions for team competitions such as the Presidents Cup? I found the Tiger Woods-Notah Begay pairing interesting not only because they were teammates at Stanford but also because they were the only members of the Presidents Cup team who use the Nike golf ball. Did this have any bearing on Ken Venturi's pairings? What would have happened if Begay hadn't made the team?
You're right, Steve, players are sometimes paired because they use the same ball. Davis Love and Phil Mickelson, for instance, use the new Titleist ball and played together. Woods and Begay also asked to play together. If Begay hadn't been there, Paul Azinger, who was a captain's pick, also plays the Nike ball and could have paired with Tiger. Plus, I think anyone would gladly switch golf balls for a day for a chance to have Tiger as his partner.
Do you think there's any chance the Presidents Cup would adopt Davis Love's suggestion to include a two-man scramble? He feels that the golfing public is more familiar with that format than with the current alternate-shot portion of the matches.
I don't know, Steve, the word scramble immediately makes me think cheesy outing. Alternate shot is more like pure golf. You play one ball and that's it. No do-overs or picking the best one. Alternate shot has a long tradition in the British Isles. It's also a great format for one round of a 36-hole day since it plays much quicker, and since these pros can't play in foursomes in less than five hours because they waste so much time on the greens, alternate shot works. I could see the Presidents Cup replacing one alternate-shot session with another set of 12 singles matches, however. I think everybody would like to see that.
While admittedly one of the last Canadians to jump on the Mike Weir bandwagon, I think it's time to hop aboard. His play was the lone bright spot for the International team. Other than Tiger Woods, Mike is perhaps as good a ballstriker as there is on tour. My perception is just that his putting still is really streaky. When he is on, he's really good, but when he's off he can't make much outside 10 feet. And it seems as if he'll have one amazing round of 65 or thereabouts and then much more average scores. Is my perception correct? If so, how does he go about improving on his putting? It seems like if he can do that, he can be a top-10 player with his ballstriking ability.
Greg Norman heaped praise on Weir during the Presidents Cup and was impressed with how Weir could putt the ball into a thimble. Nobody putts well all the time but Weir is considered a feared putter. The Presidents Cup can only help his confidence, which ought to be pretty high, anyway, since he nearly won at Kingsmill. He has the game to win major championships. When there's talk of the young players who may challenge Tiger -- so far, still an absurd subject -- Weir's name hasn't been coming up, but maybe it should. He is nice beyond belief, down to earth and normal. I hope he does well.
Click here to send your golf question to Gary Van Sickle.
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