It’s been three decades since the inaugural Presidents Cup, a biennial event that has aptly filled in the gap of non-Ryder Cup years. However, we’d be lying if we said it has provided the same drama. While there have been some great contests between the Americans and the Internationals, it’s also served, at times, as an event for Team USA members to pad their career matchplay records.
Still, that’s the thing – along the way, there have been several moments that led us to believe the event was just about to become more competitive. From flashy arrivals to tense situations, we took a look back at nine times it seemed like the Presidents Cup was going to make the leap – only for the event to still be searching for a game-changing moment.
1. The mutiny
After losing the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, the International squad did something stunning ahead of the second one: fire its captain – just two months before the 1996 event. Numerous reports have put Greg Norman as the leader behind the ousting of fellow Aussie David Graham. And many have said that ousting was unfair. But it seemed to at least show these guys really cared about winning if they cared that much about who their captain was. Not that it led to a different outcome, though, as the Internationals lost again, this time with Peter Thomson at the helm.
2. The win
But wait! Maybe that mutiny did actually change the course of Presidents Cup history, because Thomson led the Internationals to victory for the first time two years later at Royal Melbourne. It also helped that it was the first home game for this squad of various backgrounds. And not only did the Internationals win, they won emphatically, 20½-11½. Surely, this would be a competitive event going forward, especially with top-ranked players like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen. Right? Eh, not so much. The Internationals haven’t won since. Although they came as close as you can come five years later…
3. The tie
In one of the most famous examples of sportsmanship – and, “It’s darker than it looks on camera!” – the 2003 Presidents Cup ended in a tie after three tense sudden-death holes between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, the top two players in the world at the time. With it finally getting too dark to continue, captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player decided to share the cup with a tied score and not let the Americans, who had won in 2000, retain it. The drama-filled ending that included clutch putts by Ernie and Tiger as well as the overall competitiveness of the matches indicated these sides would have similar battles like this in the future. And the shared cup victory at least differentiated the event from the Ryder Cup. But the Internationals have lost every Presidents Cup since.
4. The ‘Asian Boom!’
In 1998, Se Ri Pak won two majors to usher in a new LPGA era dominated by South Koreans that would last for the next couple of decades. Later that year, Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama went a perfect 5-0 at the Presidents Cup, leading the Internationals to their first win in the event. It led many to believe that the men’s game would soon have a similar takeover by Asian golfers. But Maruyama would play in only one more Presidents Cup. And while there have been some great Asian players to come along, most notably 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, it hasn’t been enough to tip the scales in the International team’s favour. At least, not yet.
5. The ‘Aquaman’
Many people remember Woody Austin falling into a lake at Royal Montreal in 2007 (imagine if that happened today with Golf Twitter?!), but few realise that the, um, tide was turning against the Americans that Friday. After a dominant first day, the Internationals charged back and looked like they would be within a point and with some serious momentum heading into the weekend after Austin’s famous flop. But Woody bounced back after that embarrassing moment with three consecutive birdies that pulled out a much-needed halve to give the Americans a two-point lead in an event they’d wind up winning by five.
6. The Tiger decline
At the 2009 Presidents Cup, Woods looked as Woods-like as ever, winning all five matches (four with friend and putting coach Steve Stricker), including a singles drubbing over Y.E. Yang to exact some revenge for the PGA Championship two months earlier. But about a month later, Tiger’s scandal broke and his game went with it. At the next Presidents Cup in 2011, Woods needed to be picked by another buddy, Fred Couples, to make the team. Without its top dog… well, cat… at his best, the USA seemed vulnerable for the foreseeable future. But, of course, the Americans still won as Woods even wound up providing the Cup-clinching point. And even with injuries keeping Tiger from being a mainstay in the event since, that hasn’t kept the Americans from continuing to win.
7. The first three days of 2019
The Internationals put forth a particularly dismal showing at Liberty National in 2017, when the singles session almost wasn’t necessary. But they bounced back at Royal Melbourne and took a two-point lead heading into Sunday singles. Would the Internationals, led by captain Els, finally get win No.2?! Nope. And once again, Woods delivered the dagger – this time as a playing captain – beating Abraham Ancer to cap another undefeated week and help the USA complete the comeback. Poor Ernie.
8. The arrival of Ryo Ishikawa
You could possibly include these next two under that earlier “Asian Boom” category, but Ryo arrived more than a decade later and was a true phenomenon. The Japanese star played in the 2009 event just 21 days after his 18th birthday – and played well. International team captain Greg Norman even trusted him enough to play all five matches, resulting in a 3-2 record. At the time, it looked like the Internationals had the next Tiger on their hands. Instead, he wound up playing in just one more Presidents Cup.
9. The arrival of Tom Kim
Hopefully for the Internationals’ sake, Kim has more staying power than Ishikawa. He certainly boasts a stronger PGA Tour résumé already as he became the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice on tour before turning 21. He was the star of the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow and his continued development into the “GLOBAL SUPERSTAR” status that Netflix’s “Full Swing” anointed him with will be crucial to this event being more competitive over the next two decades than it has been over the previous two. No pressure, Tom.
