2013 Presidents Cup: Preview and TV Schedule
By Les Bailey
It’s hard to talk about the President’s Cup being played at Muirfield Village without talking about Jack Nicklaus. Jack saw how Bobby Jones left his legacy at Augusta National and the creation of the Masters, and he wanted to leave his legacy in the same format. He wanted to bring championship, and tournament golf to the Columbus area of Ohio(his home town), so Muirfield Village was created on a piece of land where Jack used to hunt as a boy.
The land was acquired in 1966, and construction of Muirfield Village was started July of 1972. The course was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1974 with an exhibition match between Jack, and Tom Weiskopf. Jack shot a six under par 66 which stood as the course record until 1979.
The 18-hole layout, a top-20 mainstay in Golf Digest’s biennial ranking of “America’s 100 Greatest Courses” since its debut in the survey in 1975, played at 6,978 yards in its original form, but has since stretched out to 7,354 for The Presidents Cup.
The course also has hosted the 1986 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 1987 Ryder Cup, the 1992 U.S. Amateur Championship and the 1998 Solheim Cup.
If like myself, you are a fan of International competition Match-Play golf , this tournament is must-see TV. This event isn’t quite as intent as the Ryder Cup, but provides a place where teams can compete with the pride of their country’s flag as the back-drop. Team USA Captain Fred Couples will line his players up for a third term, and will play Nick Price’s International team.
This is Price’s first shot at managing a team, and the Internationals are hoping he can break the grip the US Team has had on the event. Since its inception in 1994, Team USA has won all but two of the Cups. They were beaten in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, and played to a 17-17 tie in 2003. Nick Price has played in previous President’s Cup competition, but this will be his first job as it’s Captain.
Team USA:
- Tiger Woods
- Brandt Snedeker
- Phil Mickelson
- Matt Kuchar
- Jason Dufner
- Keegan Bradley
- Steve Stricker
- Bill Haas
- Hunter Mahan
- Zach Johnson
- Webb Simpson
- Jordan Spieth
Webb Simpson and Jordan Spieth were Captain’s picks on Team USA, all others played their way into the competition via points awarded during the past two seasons. Matt Kuchar won the only official WGC Match Play event at the Accenture earlier this year, and he also won the 2013 Memorial at Muirfield Village.
Team International:
- Adam Scott
- Jason Day
- Charl Schwartzel
- Ernie Els
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Branden Grace
- Graham DeLaet
- Richard Sterne
- Angel Cabrera
- Brendon de Jonge
- Marc Leishman
Louis Oosthuizen has been out with physical problems since the Open Championship, but played last week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland to get some play in prior to the President’s Cup. He got off to a rocky start at Kingsbarns shooting a 74, but seemed to recover at the other two courses. He did not make the cut for the final round at St. Andrews on Sunday.
Brandon de Jonge played himself onto this team in the FedEx Cup playoffs, and will be playing for his boyhood idol, Nick Price. Both are from Zimbabwe.
The TV Schedule:
| Thu | 10/03 | GOLF GOLF | 1 PM – 6 PM ET 8 PM – 2 AM ET | – – | – – | – – | – – |
| Fri | 10/04 | GOLF GOLF | 1 PM – 6 PM ET 8 PM – 1 AM ET | – – | – – | – – | – – |
| Sat | 10/05 | NBC GOLF | 8 AM – 6 PM ET 8 PM – 2 AM ET | – – | – – | – – | – – |
| Sun | 10/06 | NBC GOLF | 12 PM – 6 PM ET 8 PM – 2 AM ET |
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