He missed a short putt on the final hole at Fancourt in 2003 to lose his match against Kenny Perry, and walking off the green he snapped his putter over his knee.
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Nicklaus, now 75, who is continuing his association with the game through golf course design and other business, has had his name attached to more than 325 golf courses around the world. “My experience can help in planning our strategies”, said Thongchai.
“Well, at least someone thinks I’m amusing”. “Lefty’ has played in every Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup since 1994, and his pedigree is not in question, but his form most certainly is”.
Either way, points will be precious at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club.
“You want guys out here who are wanting to play”.
World number two Jason Day agreed with his captain, adding: ” This is a huge deal for us right now.
It is true that the Internationals will have the advantage of greater support than the USA side purely through the geographical make-up of their side and if they can build momentum from early success on day one then it might go a long way to carrying them to one of their better results if not victory.
Zach Johnson was stunned to hear that Dustin Johnson hasn’t played in these team events in three years, until he gave it a few more thought.
Perhaps it is that the Presidents Cup just doesn’t mean as much to the global players as the Ryder Cup does to the European player?
We will keep you up to date on the pairings as they are released. I think the Solheim Cup showed that two weeks ago.
Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson battled at Chambers Bay in the U.S. Open.
The well-travelled Thai ace credits a strict fitness and diet regime for allowing him to stay on top of his game at a time when young guns such as Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are dominating the sport. “He’ll be very good this week”.
The foursomes, where players hit alternate shots with the same ball, will also see the Internationals’ 2013 pairing of Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama reunited to face Bubba Watson and JB Holmes in the opening match.
He also stayed away from Day and Spieth being in the same match, even in a team format.
“And I don’t think it would be fair to the rest of the team for me to single out one person and say, “That’s who I’m going to play against that person”.
A Spieth-Day duel would presumably require Nick Price’s approval. Now he is all set to lead the team again. “It all depends on how things are going, and from there, make that decision who I’ll play against”.
The biggest change for Scott is that two of them count toward the FedEx Cup. Woods missed a big chunk of 2014 recovering from back surgery, and he made the cut (with only one top 10) in the 11 tournaments he played this year. He started the playoffs at No. 94, missed the cut at The Barclays and his season was over.
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A clutch of the world’s best golfers are playing to a different beat at the first Presidents Cup in Asia this week – the constant drone of cameras clicking and phones ringing.
