Does Anyone Really Care About the Presidents Cup?

Thus far, it’s been an easy Ryder

There used to be something called the Silly Season, where PGA Tour pros played in exhibitions and jetted to remote greens for some sweet paydays.

It gave some of us a chance to focus on sports other than golf: football, hockey, skiing. The World Series.

Now the PGA Tour season doesn't end; it wraps around. The Frys.com Open, the first event of the 2016 season, takes place October 15-18.

In case you weren't paying attention–and it's understandable if you weren't—that's the weekend after the Presidents Cup will be played at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in South Korea.

It marks the eleventh contesting of the event, and, much like the early days of the Ryder Cup, the United States team has dominated, defeating the International team eight times and halved once.

Compared to the current cutthroat quality of the Ryder Cup, the competition in the Presidents Cup seems rather, well, toothless.

Will this year be any different?

The Internationals have pushed for some competitive modifications and got them:

For one, there'll only be 30 matches instead of 34. Each of the two Thursday/Friday and Saturday formats—four-ball, foursome—will have one fewer match.

Every player on each team will still play in the Sunday singles matches, but those matches can now end in draws with a half-point awarded to each team. No extra holes.

The home team captain (in this case Nick Price) gets to determine the order of matches for Thursday and Friday.

Unwittingly leveling the playing field, U.S. Captain Jay Haas selected his son, Bill, and Ryder Cup whiner Phil Mickelson with his captain's picks. He overlooked higher-ranked Brandt Snedeker, Billy Horschel, Brooks Koepka and J.J. Henry.

There won't be a repeat champion at the Frys.com Open, as Nick Price selected with his captain's pick Korean Sangmoon Bae, a hometown hero who has won at the Jack Nicklaus course. Price also tabbed Australian Steven Bowditch.

Despite the presence of majors champions Jason Day (above), Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel, the International team doesn't seem to inspire the kind of saber-rattling rivalry that the Europeans do in the Ryder Cup. Anirban Lahiri and Thongchai Jaidee aren't Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson.

And Jordan Spieth looks invincible.

Yet, should the U.S. lose, there won't be the soul-searching, hand-wringing, backstabbing reaction that occurred at Gleneagles. The big event–the one everyone watches–is next year at Hazeltine.

Besides, the Tour heads to Las Vegas the following week, where a $6.4 million purse awaits.

For a look at the teams, visit www.presidentscup.com.

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