The Presidents Cup 2011 has been run and won.  Team USA was as imposing on the course as it was on paper.  Despite playing on foreign soil, a local crowd and all the weather Melbourne could throw at them, the USA players held strong and reflected their dominance in the World rankings.  Team International were in no way disgraced, and a number of games could easily have swung the other way.

Despite the dominance of the USA in the Presidents Cup, the format is compelling, competitive and provides a whole new angle and venue to watch the best golfers in the world play team matchplay golf.  With the US also playing Europe in the Ryder Cup, which has been the scene of epic battles over the years, there is now a missing piece to the team matchplay puzzle.  A competition between Europe and the Internationals.

Lets give this mythical event a working title of the “Kings Cup”.  Such an event would be logistically tough to squeeze into the tight timelines of the professional golf calendars but let assume that all could be in one place at one time.

A fictitious Europe team based on current rankings would be as strong as the US with 9 players within the top 25 in the world, and the best 4 golfers!  Ive gone with Bjorn and Clarke for Captains picks.  The International team stays relatively unchanged but Ive swapped Senden and Oosthuizen for Els and Allenby, sorry Big Easy and Rob.    It offers some tantalising matchups and world class golf.

• Captains picks

Of course, the first event would need to be played in Melbourne.  Royal Melbourne is the obvious choice, though Kingston Heath would be as suitable a venue.  Bring on the Kings Cup!

Royal Melbourne 6th(West) - Playing as the 4th during Presidents Cup 2011

With the International and US teams now in Melbourne, the golfing world has turned its focus onto Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the 2011 Presidents Cup.  A look at the two teams gives an advantage to the USA team from a world ranking perspective.  With 10 players in the top 25 top ranked players in the world versus 5 for the Internationals, USA looks very strong,.  Both teams have a good mix of experience in previous Presidents Cups, the US have an added advantage in competing in similar format during the Ryder Cup.  But all thats just on paper.

• Captains Pick

The Internationals have one additional player on their side, Royal Melbourne Golf Course.  The Australians will have an advantage on the home track, especially if the wind kicks in from Port Phillip Bay.  Royal Melbourne has plenty of risk and reward, and together with the undulating greens, there will be drama aplenty.

The 401 metre par 4 4th hole (West Course 6th) sums up the course.  Driving from an elevated tee the righthand dogleg turns sharply providing the player with a bailout but beckons you to take on the corner over the rough and bunker complex.  The green is one of the toughest on the course, and you do not want to be above the hole facing the real threat of putting off the front.

Looking forward to an epic finish on Sunday as the final single matches go down to the wire. Prediction: Internationals 18 – USA 16

Steve Williams is the Kim Kardashian of Golf, both have used the media to build a high profile that should never have existed.

A good Golf Caddy can be Sherpa, Mentor, Coach, Doctor and more to a professional golfer.  But the best caddy also keeps out of the media spotlight and lets the player go about their business.  Only a true golf tragic would be able to tell you who caddied for Nicklaus, Palmer or Watson.  And who is currently Tiger Woods caddy?

The caddy’s to the Worlds top players generally “turn up, keep up and shut up”.  Which brings us to Steve Williams, no doubt one of the best caddy’s and bag-man until recently to Tiger Woods.   Carrying Tiger’s clubs allowed Williams to become the highest paid “sportsman” in New Zealand.  However Williams wasn’t content with sitting in Tigers shadows and built up his own media profile.  This included quotes in media and public on other players such as Phil Mickelson.

His move away from Tiger was always going to happen, and he has definitely helped Adam Scotts game.  However he hasnt been content to carry Scotts clubs, and his mouth has put him onto the backpages of Newspapers, and the front pages of blogs.  He claimed he’d just had “the greatest week of my life” after Scott won recently, having caddied for Woods in many Majors, this was an open handed slap in Woods face.

And onto this weekend, when Williams referred to Woods as a “black a*hole” causing media hysterics on the eve of the biggest 3 weeks in Australian golf.  Many golfers past and present have called on Scott to dismiss Williams, to have the PGA ban him.  It looks like none of this will happen and the media will have a frenzy anytime Scott gets within 5 iron distance of Woods.

Ideally Williams keeps his mouth shut and allows Scott to play to his best ability.

1. Where and when?

The Presidents Cup was played at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1998, and returns to the venue this year for the 9th Presidents Cup.  Royal Melbourne Golf Club sits in one of the World’s golfing mecca’s, the famous Melbourne Sandbelt located south of central Melbourne.  The layout is a composite course comprising 12 holes from the West Course (ranked 12th in the World) and 6 holes from the East Course (ranked 67th in the World)  The event will be held from November 14th to 20th 2011, three practice days followed by four competition days.

2. Whats the course layout?

For those familiar with the Royal Melbourne composite course, the holes have been re-routed from the normal tournament layout to focus on potential finishing holes for matchplay.   The Presidents Cup layout (PDF version) brings 16, 17 and 18 closer to the Clubhouse with the classic 18th hole from the West course and normal composite finishing hole reverting to the 16th, a likely deciding hole.

3. What’s the format?

Based on the Ryder Cup format, the Presidents Cup is a team matchplay event.

• Thursday – Six foresome matches: Teams of two play one ball taking alternate shots.  Matchplay scoring
• Friday – Six fourball matches: Teams of two, best score of the two per hole. Matchplay scoring
• Saturday – Five foresome matches (AM), Five fourball matches (PM)
• Sunday – Twelve singles matches

With a total of 34 matches, one team needs to win at least 17.5 matches to win the tournament.

4. Who is playing?

The International and US teams are made up of the best 10 ranked players and two Captains picks.  So essentially its a cavalcade of Champions.  The US team includes Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Nick Watney, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, David Toms and Jim Furyk.   The most contentious player being Tiger Woods who didnt qualify through form but was selected as a Captains pick, ahead of players like PGA Championship winner, Keegan Bradley.  Time will tell if thats a good decision.

The International Team includes local heroes Jason Day, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy plus captain picks Badds and Robert Allenby.  Plus KJ Choi, Ryo Ishikawa, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen.

Both teams include a mix of youth and experience making for a great event.

5. Can I still get tickets?

The Ticketmaster site still has a range of tickets available.  Prices include:  $60 (Adult) to a practice day, $130 (Adult) to the final day, $475 (Adult) for access to every day , right up to $770 (Adult) for access everyday including reserved seating on the 16th hole and Captains Club.

6. Where’s the best place to watch?

The Royal Melbourne composite course provides some great vantage points around the course to watch the play.  Grandstands are located around the course, obviously in prime locations, some are reserved, others are first come first seated.  Some possible spots include:

• The grandstand on the brilliant short par 3 5th hole will be worth it, depending on the wind and pin position, this hole could throw up some early drama.
• On the corner of the classic par 4 dogleg 4th, my favourite hole on the course, watching how much of the corner the players are willing to cut or greenside to see how they deal with this tough green
• Greenside on the 2nd hole, at 476 metres will they attack this par 5 for eagle?
• Fairway on the 6th hole: who doesnt like a short par 4.  another attacking hole?
• Greenside on the 15th hole: As the matches get towards the end, there could be action here as teams take risks to claw back a hole.
• Anywhere on 16th or 17th.  Many results will be decided on these holes, so crowds will be huge.  Find a vantage point, grandstand, mound, tree, anything!

7. Cant get to the course, whens it on TV?

Fox Sports and Channel 9′s Wide World of Sports will broadcast all four days of The Presidents Cup action live. The Today Show will also broadcast live from the Presidents Cup, no doubt with witty banter on golf sticks and sand holes.

8.Where do I find out more?

The official site is http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/presidentscup/ which includes all the detail on players, tickets, access etc.

The host course, Royal Melbourne Golf Club have further details and information on their site.

Follow the Presidents Cup on Twitter for latest news @PresidentsCup

Become a fan on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ThePresidentsCup?ref=ts

9. Who will win?

Last time around, the relatively inexperienced and out of form International Team were comprehensively beaten up by the dominant US team on home soil.  This time the International have a core group of Australians who know Royal Melbourne like the back of their hand, and the US team whilst strong, isnt as dominant as last time, at least from a rankings perspective.  Both have a mix of seasoned veterans and young players.

Bookies will still be supporting the US team, but Internationals will be very close.  And it may come down to some acts of brilliance in the final day singles matches.  Internationals in a close one!!!

Adam Scott played a virtually faultless final round of 65 to win the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone. Scott pocketed $1.3 million for the win and has jumped into the World Top 10 joining fellow Aussie Jason Day.   Scott’s form couldnt come at a better time with this weekends PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club. Potential for some early mornings this weekend for Australians, hoping to watch Scott and Day competing for the final major of 2011.

Now this is the way to play your approach to the 72nd hole when leading the tournament.

Unfortunately a lot of the media attention was focused on caddy Steve Williams. Williams is still very bitter from his public break up with Tiger Woods, and in what is closer to Hollywood gossip than sport, Williams held his own press conference rating the win as his greatest career win as well as claiming he is a great frontrunner.   The comments were squarely aimed at Woods, bitter and uncalled for.  Now, professional caddies play a vital role in support, mentor, coach and strategist for golfers, and Williams is one of the best. But seriously, the best caddys are also seen and not heard.

Should Scott continue his current form and, fingers crossed, hold the PGA Championship trophy aloft this weekend, his caddy should receive earned respect and congratulations, but keep his mouth shut on the victory dias!

After being knocked to the canvas by this summers scheduling of the Presidents Cup and Australian Open, the 2011 Australian Masters was close to disappearing altogether.  However event promoter IMG have confirmed that the Masters will go ahead  this year, to be held at the Victoria Golf Club on December 15th to 18th, the weekend before Christmas.

Being held at the same venue as last year has huge advantages in logistics and staging.  Being held a week before Christmas will have its share of issues.  It will be unlikely that any of the American players will be keen to return having been in the country the month before for Presidents Cup, however IMG can hopefully persuade a few of the Europeans to leave the chill of a Northern winter and spend Christmas with the family in sunny Melbourne.  A field including the likes of a Luke Donald, a Rory McIlroy, a Lee Westwood or a Graeme McDowell would be a seriously good Christmas present.

Update:  IMG and the Minister for Tourism have just announced that the Worlds Number One golfer will again be playing the Australian Masters.  Luke Donald will play the Victoria Golf Club along with the enigmatic and ever-tweeting Ian Poulter and defending champion Stuart Appleby.  A great way to lead into Christmas!

The US PGA Tour likes to control social media during events, including this weekends US Open.   Ben Everill, (@AussieUSPGAMole) a US based Australian AP golf writer is at Congressional this week to cover the Open and follow the progress of the Australians in the field.   As an accredited media, Ben can tweet within the confines of the media centre but is unable to take images/video or make social media comment whilst out on the course.    With the limited coverage of the Australians on the TV, Ben will be making regular sprints between the course and the media centre to tweet the latest action.  Be sure to follow Ben’s tweets.

Like most golf events around the world, mobile phones, and hence social media is essentially banned from the general public in the gallery.  The PGA Tours want to control the message, but they are missing out on a key element of social media, the live social conversation.  TV coverage is average, but the logistics of covering 18 holes of action at once is immense, however a twitter community made up of members of the gallery and media can cover the action and provide live updates.  The PGA Tour could leverage this conversation rather than ban it.  Tweeting during an Australian Rules football game is encouraged with specific #tags for every game, the conversation and comment range from strategy, encouragement, anger, humour and supporter rants, all adding to the atmosphere whether at the game or from afar.

Twitter has allowed the golfing public to find out more about the PGA players with many of the top players tweeting on a regular basis before and after rounds, and what they get up to in-between tournaments.  Whilst its unlikely we will see the players tweeting during a round, allowing social media from behind the ropes would only add to the social media conversation and experience.

Regardless, hope to see a tweet late on Sunday that reads something like “And with that putt on 18, another Aussie wins the US Open”

Julia Gillard is the latest to join the Presidents Cup accepting an invitation to be the Honorary Chairman of the Presidents Cup. In a Statement, the Prime Minister stated “The Presidents Cup is a spectacular showcase of golf’s best players that also provides a great deal of funding for charitable causes around the world.  I am confident that Melbourne will serve as a worthy backdrop for this world-class event, and I look forward to taking part in the festivities.”

Whilst the Prime Minister is known to be pretty handy with a Sherrin through her support of the Bulldogs and the impromptu football clinic with Barak Obama in the Oval Office, not sure of her golf game.    No doubt she will be cheering on the International Team with some  “moving forward”  motivational speeches, though hopefully the Caddys wont incur a carbon tax.

Julia Gillard joins Presidents Cup Captain Greg Norman as Honorary Chairman

Phil-peat – Phil will most likely be presenting himself with the Green Jacket in 2011.

For the last couple of years Ive asked the question in this blog, ‘Will an Australian win the Masters this year?”  The answer has always been ‘no’.  So this year  Im using reverse-psychology and making a statement that an Australian will NOT win the Masters this year.   Aaron Baddeley has the best current form, Ogilvy, Allenby, Scott and Appleby have the game to win it and Jason Day will win a major one day.  But first they have to beat the course, and Phil Mickelson.   Phil won last week, and seems to like Green Jackets, and he is odds on the take home a fourth.  So, we will have to wait at least another year to see an Australian winner of the US Masters.

Hopefully I am wrong!

Partnering D.A. Points, the PGA Tour winner of the event, Bill Murray won this weekends AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. In a ‘cinderella story’ emanating Carl Spackler, Murrays gopher chasing greenskeeper from Caddyshack, Murray won in his 20th appearance at the Worlds most famous pro-am. Murray can definitely hit the ball playing to a 12 handicap, but his wit and humour on the course is the key part of his game.

Points won his maiden PGA Tour title and pocketed $1.134 million which is more than he earned for the entire 2010 season.