Scott relishing Presidents Cup challenge

“I’m going to do my best to help the team”. His takedown of captain Tom Watson made for a captivating end to a one-sided Ryder Cup in Scotland past year, but we’re more interested in the positivity he brings to the American side.

Whether the two meet will be down to the non-playing captains, Nick Price (Internationals) and Jay Haas (US) when they do the final day draw.

While the Presidents Cup has not yet reached a crisis point it is clear that this year’s event could well provide the catalyst for the event’s ongoing success or otherwise. Mickelson is back by popular demand of the players, apparently. He also captained Asia to a memorable 10-10 draw with Europe at the inaugural EurAsia Cup past year where he beat Graeme McDowell in the singles.

Jason Day says the Internationals are determined to reverse the trend of losing the Presidents Cup and aim to start with the clash against the USA at Incheon City, Korea, this week.

“I guess I was in my “bumpy” cycle when we started this”.

The former world number one indicated that a win right off the bat i important for the worldwide team.

It was no less gratifying for the big-hitting Johnson when he checked in at the team hotel Sunday night after his long flight from Los Angeles, stuck his head in the team room to catch up with the rest of the Americans and then dress in uniform for a practice round that included Jimmy Walker, Chris Kirk and Patrick Reed.

And then he takes his big winter break?

Haas, the clamoring went, should have selected one of the many players who finished ahead of Mickelson in the points race, including J.B. Holmes, Billy Horschel, Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka.

Captain Haas hasn’t announced the pairings yet, so I’m going to double down on the boldness of this one.

The amiable “Lefty” was runner-up to teammate Jordan Spieth at the US Masters in April, but has shown little form since, registering just two top-10 finishes and falling to 24th in the world. The lone global victory came in 1998.

The putter went to Danny Lee and Marc Leishman this year. That’s still higher than seven players on the worldwide team.

Brendan: I mean… everything?

“At the same time it’s quite lively and humorous, so it’s a good mix”, added the Indian, who is the first from his country to play in the Presidents Cup.

And it wasn’t even his shot. Sure the Americans won in Germany but taking a four point lead into the final day singles as was the case with the Europeans would be a dream come true for the global side.

“And the second thing is, you look at how their games match up together”.

“You look at our lineup, and it’s hard to sit guys”, Haas said.

Australian duo Jason Day and Steven Bowditch will take on Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson. Ennui is a good word for it – they certainly are not as tense as they get for the Ryder Cup, which could be a good thing. Would you change anything? But that’s not bad because the Golden Globes are great and all the stars get drunk. He said his players lobbied strongly this summer to make it 28 matches, just as it is at the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup.

“As a player you want to play well”.

Emily: Short of eliminating it altogether, shorten it by at least a day, maybe two.