Presidents Cup
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"President's Cup" redirects here. For other uses, see President's Cup (disambiguation).
The Presidents Cup is a series of golf matches between teams of professional players representing the United States and the rest of the world less Europe, which competes against the U.S. in a similar but considerably older event, the Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup is held biennially. Initially it was held in even numbered years, the Ryder Cup being held in odd numbered years. However, the cancellation of the 2001 Ryder Cup due to 9/11 pushed both tournaments back a year, and the Presidents Cup is now held in odd numbered years. It is hosted alternately in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.
The format of the event is also drawn from the Ryder Cup, consisting of twelve players per side and a non-playing captain, usually a highly respected golf figure. The captains are responsible for pairing the teams in the doubles events, which consist of both alternate shot and best ball formats (sometimes called "foursome" and "four ball" matches) However, unlike the Ryder Cup, all twelve players must play both matches on Friday (six matches per Friday session, unlike the Ryder Cup, with four matches), and only two players will sit out each session of Saturday matches (five matches per Saturday session, compared to four), and each player must play one match on Saturday.
The format of the Presidents Cup is different from that of the Ryder Cup mainly in that it includes six extra matches, which prevents a team from hiding its weaknesses. By having all 24 players on the course for all three days there cannot be a situation such as in the 1999 Ryder Cup when Europe kept three players (Jarmo Sandelin, Jean Van de Velde and Andrew Coltart) on the bench for the sixteen four-ball and better-ball matches on the first two days. This use of twelve players on all three days arguably led to the United States' victory.
The event was created and is organised by the PGA Tour. At the inaugural Presidents Cup former U.S. President Gerald Ford was Honorary Chairman. Subsequent events saw former President George HW Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and then-President Bill Clinton in the chair. [1]
In 2005, Jack Nicklaus captained the United States team and Gary Player captained the International team.
[edit] Results
| Year | Venue | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Captains | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Royal Montreal Golf Club (Île-Bizard, Quebec, Canada) |
 Jack Nicklaus Gary Player |
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| 2005 | Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, Virginia) |
United States | 18½ | 15½ | International | Jack Nicklaus Gary Player |
| 2003 | Fancourt Hotel and Country Club Estate (George, Western Cape, South Africa) |
Tied | 17 | 17 | Tied | Jack Nicklaus Gary Player |
| 2000 | Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, Virginia) |
United States | 21½ | 10½ | International | Ken Venturi Peter Thomson |
| 1998 | Royal Melbourne Golf Club (Black Rock, Victoria, Australia) |
International | 20½ | 11½ | United States | Jack Nicklaus Peter Thomson |
| 1996 | Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, Virginia) |
United States | 16½ | 15½ | International | Arnold Palmer Peter Thomson |
| 1994 | Robert Trent Jones Golf Club (Gainesville, Virginia) |
United States | 20 | 12 | International | Hale Irwin David Graham |
Note: Until 2003, prior to the start of the final day matches, the captains selected one player to play in a tie-breaker in case there was a tie at the end of the final match. Upon a tie, the captains would reveal the players who would play a sudden-death match to determine the winner. In 2003, however, the tiebreaker match ended after three holes because of darkness, and it was decided that the Cup would be shared by both teams.
To prevent a repeat of this situation a new format was adopted, beginning in 2005: both teams will share the Presidents Cup should there be an overall tie in points awarded, but the singles matches will no longer be halved if tied after 18 holes; extra holes will be played until one player wins a full point outright.
