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SPORTS Tuesday 3 OcTOber 2017

Column: Presidents Cup needs more than just time to improve

By DOUG FERGUSON the European Tour, no mat-
AP Golf Writer ter where the Europeans
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — The live or play. There is pride,
banner posted on the side and from that comes pas-
of the grandstand at the sion and spirit. That can’t
first tee loudly proclaimed be manufactured.
the Presidents Cup as “The Ernie Els is the logical
U.S. versus The World.” That choice as the next Inter-
sounded like a compelling national captain. That de-
competition except for cision will come from the
one small problem. PGA Tour, which also will
When did Europe move to select the American cap-
another planet? tain. Any change in for-
The PGA Tour has pleaded mat is decided by the PGA
for patience in letting the Tour. The tour isn’t rigging
Presidents Cup mature into the competition in Ameri-
a must-see event, referring can favor. That does no
to a Ryder Cup that once one any good.
was even more one-sided. Even so, separate teams
During a 50-year stretch, require separate leader-
the Americans captured ship.
the Ryder Cup 20 out of 21 “It’s gotten to the stage
times. now where we have to
Then again, they were The U.S. Team celebrates with the winner’s trophy after the final round of the Presidents Cup golf do whatever we can to
beating up on a Britain tournament at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, N.J., Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. try and benefit our team,”
and Ireland team trying to Associated Press Els said. “Whether that’s
recover from World War The record will show a 19- helped this year. Interna- enough. logistics, scheduling, golf
II, the worst kind of home 11 victory for the Ameri- tional captain Nick Price This was the first time in 10 course setup, I think we
game. The turning point cans. referred to this U.S. team years that every player on have to be more in con-
was in 1979 when all of The memory from this as a juggernaut, and that the International team was trol.”
Europe became eligible, Presidents Cup will be might have been an un- a full PGA Tour member. Not to be overlooked is
which included Seve Ball- the Americans being one derstatement. The Ameri- But their road to America the selection process. The
esteros, perhaps the most match away from ending cans usually field strong is always longer, and more International team is deter-
important figure in Ryder it on Saturday. teams. What’s different difficult, when it starts in mined by the world ranking
Cup history. A blowout typically leads about this team was that places like India, Argentina because that’s what the
The International team to knee-jerk reactions. all of them were playing and perhaps China for the PGA Tour decided. Why
comes from every country Those were hard to find great. That’s an unbeat- next team. not let the International
outside Europe. What else two years ago in South Ko- able combination. What has to change is au- team set its own qualifica-
can it add? rea when the International “None of this is about mak- tonomy for the Internation- tion? It could use a mixture
What can it do? team came within two ing it easier for us,” said al team. of FedEx Cup points and
It’s difficult enough playing putts in one match from Geoff Ogilvy, one of Price’s The modern Ryder Cup, world ranking points. May-
under a flag with no sig- winning — Chris Kirk mak- assistant captains. “It’s which dates to 1979, essen- be it wants four captain’s
nificance except for one ing his putt from 15 feet, about making the event tially is the PGA Tour against picks instead of two. q
week every two years at Anirban Lahiri missing his better. Everyone who
the Presidents Cup. And it putt from 4 feet. leaves on Monday morn-
doesn’t help that the Inter- The big picture suggests a ing says, ‘It’s the most fun
national team takes its di- deeper problem. I’ve ever had.’ But they’re
rection from the PGA Tour, The Americans are now 10- (ticked) off because
which also oversees the 1-1. Their only loss was in they’re not in the mix. We
American team. Imagine a 1998 in Australia, when the watch it lovingly every two
World Series between two matches were held two years and we get jealous
baseball teams with the weeks before Christmas, because the Europeans
same owner. and most of the Americans and the U.S. have that. We
Worse yet was looking spent more time shopping haven’t had that. That’s
across at a U.S. team that online than studying po- what the boys want.
is loaded with so much tential pairings. “Anything we can do to
young talent that some of The matches return to help that situation hap-
those stars at Liberty Na- Australia for a third time in pen more often is going to
tional might not be on the 2019, this time ending on make this tournament bet-
charter flight to France for Dec. 15. So there’s hope ter.”
the Ryder Cup next Sep- for the International team. Playing better would help,
tember. Nothing would have but even that might not be