Fred Couples and Greg Norman discuss upcoming Presidents Cup in Australia
The Presidents Cup, the biennial team golf competition, has been dominated by the U.S. team since the inaugural event in 1994. In eight editions, the international side has one lone victory,
coming at the 1998 event staged in Melbourne, Australia, as well as a tie in 2003.
The international squad will try to push their record to 2-6-1 when the event returns to the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in November 2011. U.S. captain Fred Couples and international captain
Greg Norman made a stop at the course on their way to the Australian Open in Sydney to discuss the upcoming event.
Norman, the 55-year-old Australian golfer who will return as captain of the international side after captaining the 2009 edition, is excited to see the event return to his homeland. "From
a sportsperson's point of view, there's no better place to play than in Melbourne. Just the atmosphere that's created. What is it, the people, the golf courses or just the fact that support for sport in this state is different to everywhere else? It's a combination
and an honor to come here and play golf because I don't care whether you're Fred Couples or Greg Norman or Tiger Woods, everybody gets a tremendous amount of support. We feel it's fun to come back and play golf here.''
Couples, 51, also captained the U.S. squad in 2009 and the 1992 Masters champion had only good things to say about the course. "This is a world-class course. It's in the top three of my
all-time favorites with St. Andrews and Augusta, but I'm not playing and we have a lot of work. We didn't even make a match of it in 1998, we weren't even in the ball-game, so this time as a captain it will be my job to ensure everyone is ready at that time.”
Couples, part of the losing U.S. side in 1998, said he has fond memories of the atmosphere. “I just remember the fans were incredible. I think we were behind every single round, but you
go away thinking this is some great golf course.”
Couples was asked if he had considered that Tiger Woods could fail to make the team given his recent struggles. He didn't seem to think so. "It has not even crossed my mind. I think he's
working hard on his game. He has slipped a little bit, but he's definitely the leader of our team and probably the best U.S. player and he'll be on the team for sure.''
The event will run from 14-20 November 2011 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
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