Greg Norman’s International team host Fred Couples and his American squad in the Presidents Cup which takes place from the 17^th to the 20^th November at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

The Presidents Cup takes place every other year and while it does not quite invoke the excitement of the Ryder Cup it has now been going since 1994 and is certainly a career highlight for players especially the Internationals. The US has had by far the better of encounters with 6 wins to a solitary victory for the Internationals and a lone draw in 2003. The sold International victory did come at this course back in 1998.

THE TEAMS

Internationals

Captain: Greg Norman

Players: Jason Day, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel, KJ Choi, KT Kim, Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy, Ernie Els, YE Yang, Ryo Ishikawa, Aaron Baddeley, Robert Allenby

Allenby and Baddeley were captain’s picks.

USA

Captain: Fred Couples

Players: Matt Kuchar, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Webb Simpson, Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, David Toms, Hunter Mahan, Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Bill Haas

Woods and Haas were captain’s picks. Mahan withdrew from last week Australian Open with injury but at the time of writing is still scheduled to play.

THE COURSE

There is an East and West course at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club and big events are played across a mixture of the pair known as the Composite Course (ranked in the top 20 courses in the World) which is where the Presidents Cup will be played. Length is not likely to be as big a factor as putting on what should be slick surfaces.

THE FORMAT

There are less places for captains to hide any weakness as unlike the Ryder Cup all 12 players take part in the 1^st two sessions and only 2 players per team are rested for sessions 3 and 4 with all 12 once again lining up in the singles.

Session 1: Thursday - Foursomes 6 Matches
Session 2: Friday – Fourballs 6 Matches
Session 3: Saturday - Foursomes 5 Matches
Session 4: Saturday – Fourballs 5 Matches
Session 5: Sunday – Singles 12 Matches

In foursomes the pairings play only one ball alternating strokes whereas fourballs see 2 balls played with the better ball counting. Singles matches will be played out should they finish 18 holes all square until a team reaches the 17.5 point mark which will signal a victory.

THE BETTING

Internationals 12/10 at Sportsbet (11/10 at Bet.co.za)

USA 1/1 at Hollywood

THE VERDICT

The price on the Internationals has steadily come in on most books and I thought I was being sharp 2 weeks ago when I snapped up the 11/10 only to log onto Sportsbet and see 12/10 on offer.

Both teams are very strong and while the USA have on occasions dominated this event I expect a big run from an International team packed with locals and captained by the very popular Greg Norman.

I will be taking a closer look at the team members when I do the top point’s scorer preview over the next 24 hours but both sides have a fairly equal mix of players in form as well as players with question marks over them whether due to form or injury.

It goes without saying that captains pick Woods is going to be key. His record when playing alongside Steve Stricker is superb and indications are that they might meet the Internationals top pairing of Day and Scott early doors (I am speculating a bit based on media reports here) and I reckon the solid Aussie pairing can strike a blow.

Both Day and Scott are in brilliant nick and very solid whereas Stricker has been battling with a disc injury for some time and Tiger while playing well in the Australian Open did struggle on the greens and still does not have a lot of game time under his belt.

If the top US pairing falter I think the knock on effect could be massive and at the current available odds of 12/10 I make the Internationals a confident selection to sweep to victory with the home crowds cheers roaring them on.

BET: 5 units Internationals at 12/10 with Sportsbet – note I don’t believe this price will last and there is also 11/10 at Bet.co.za

Join fellow punters in our Betting Forum to share thoughts and information about Presidents Cup punting

As mentioned above the Top Points Scorer previews will be posted soon. It is interesting that Woods has shortened to 6/1 for top US points scorer overseas but there is 9/1 freely available locally so if you fancy him you may want to get in early.

Here is a link which shows you how the 20 players who teed up last week fared

BEST BET MAILING LIST – Why aren’t you on it?

I send out a weekly e-mail with my best bet as well as links to the major previews of the weekend. It’s a free service and can hopefully add some value to your weekend so e-mail me now at brent@goodforthegame.co.za with the heading “Best Bets” and I will include you.