#captains picks

““To this day, it is the greatest sporting event with which I have ever been involved.”

-Jack Nicklaus on his 2003 captaincy of the President’s Cup team.  The event took place in South Africa where, on Sunday, Tiger Woods and Ernie Els battled it out into darkness, with the matches finally ending in a tie (golf.com)

The top 10 ten point getters are set, the captains picks are in, which can only mean one thing, we are GAME ON for the 2017 President’s Cup hosted at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, NJ, September 28th-October 1st.

The Presidents Cup, established in 1994, is a set of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe.  “[It] is a unique golf event in that there is no purse or prize money; instead, each player, captain and captain’s assistant allocates an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice. Since the inception of the Presidents Cup in 1994, more than $38.4 million has been raised for charity from event proceeds. Over the past 21 years, the Presidents Cup has impacted more than 450 charities in 15 countries worldwide and 35 states in the U.S.” (newsroom.amfam.com) Since 1994, the United States has won the Cup 10 times while the International Team has only managed to one tie in 2003.

While the Presidents Cup still may not get the recognition of the Ryder Cup (biennial men’s golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States which began in 1927), it still does truly bring out the best in each and every player as they play not for an individual title, but for that of their country; it has been stated that there is no greater honor in the game of golf than getting to of raise either the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup.

2017 Presidents Cup Teams:

Top 10 Automatic Qualifiers

                    International Captain, Nick Price, selected Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, who also just missed making the team and India’s Anirban Lahiri, who played for Price at the 2015 Cup in Korea, finished #16 in the overall International team standings.

Moving onto the Untied States, as a captain, Steve Stricker is—“the GM, and he has a number of hungry, proven free agents to choose from…he’s looking for malleability. He’s looking for human claymation figures that can be molded to meld with DJ, Fowler, Kooch, or any other player wearing red, white and blue on the first tee.” (golf.com)  

Saying all that, Stricker’s 2 picks were finally made Wednesday evening; he announced he would be selecting, Phil Mickelson and Charley Hoffman.  Hoffman missed making the top 10 by just .173 points, while Mickelson finished the year at #15 in the overall President’s Cup standings (he was in 30th position when he was selected for the 2015 team).

While most were not surprised with the Hoffman selection, the debate has been on for weeks now whether Mickelson was even deserving of a spot on this years team.

His performance up until now has been less than stellar—making 19 of 21 cuts with only 5 top 10 finishes as well as only making it to the weekend for one major, The Master’s (he did skip the U.S. Open for his daughters high school graduation).  Phil has also not had a win on your since the British Open in 2013—did he deserve and was he even mentally to play on his 23rd consecutive President’s/Ryder Cup Team?

MICKELSON 2017 STATS:

Up until this past weekend, no one was quite sure.  However, after his play this past weekend at the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston, where he finished tied for 6th at 3-under-par, it was hard to ignore his deep desire and passion to be a part of this year’s team.  Having walked the course this past Saturday watching Phil, you could tell there was something different about him that old fire grit and determination seemed to be back, shining through.  He still played ‘his game’, always being aggressive and never shying away from a crazy shot, but his walk, his confidence in club choice and his overall demeanor was unlike anything I have seen out of him in a while.

After making his selection, Stricker stated, “Phil beings a wealth of experience to the team…he struggles a little bit at the end of the year but he showed his desire and effort to make the team and he had a great showing in the Dell Technologies Championship.  From reports from the players, that was the Phil of old.” (usatoday.com)

Additionally, history tells us “the mellower vibe of the Presidents Cup brings out Mickelson’s best golf. He has gone undefeated three times over the last seven Cups, and his combined record in that stretch is an eye-popping 17-4-7. Yes, this has not been Mickelson’s best season but the camaraderie of the team setting and match play format that rewards hyper aggressive play have always allowed him to access his genius.”  And we have no reason to believe otherwise. Additionally, Phil is a member at Liberty, so his knowledge of the course will no doubt prove to be quite valuable. (golf.com)

Jordan Spieth on Mickelson:

“It would definitely be a different feeling if he weren't involved somehow.  Phil brings a lot to the team room. On the course, he's very good at kind of figuring out, if players are up in the air about who they should play with, he's very good about feeling that out. As long as he knows the guys well, which he knows pretty much everybody, he's pretty good at feeling out the styles of games, which will complement each other. He's just seen a lot over the years…In the team room, he's as good as anybody … just keeping it light, understanding kind of the mentality of what to say, when to say it, to get everybody ready to go.” (usatoday.com)

So, should Mickelson have been selected as one of the Captain’s picks?  I say, most definitely yes.  Mickelson has been and certainly will be the MVP as well as heart and soul of the American team—he lives, breathes and loves “ these team events. They are my favorite weeks of the year….I love playing with these guys. I love the emotions that we share and the intensity and the pressure that we deal with each match throughout the week." (sport.yahoo.com)

Wishing both teams the best of luck!!!

Go Team USA!!!

 Event Schedule

Friday AM & PM:  5 Foursome Matches (2 player alternate shot)

Saturday AM & PM:  5 Four-Ball Matches—5 total matches (each player plays own ball; a team’s number of strokes for a given hole is that of the lower scoring team member—also known as best ball or more properly better ball.

Sunday:  Singles Matches—12 individual matches (straight up 1-on-1 match play)