 | @JasonSobel - Welcome to the often-imitated, never-duplicated Live Blog, in which – contrary to popular belief – I will not be breaking down the six-month mark until the opening round of the 2010 Masters starts on April 8. Instead, I am coming to you live from Harding Park Golf Course, where the eighth edition of the Presidents Cup is about to get under way.
Diehard golf fans can skip ahead to the next paragraph, but for those of you still trying to get the hang of this thing, here are a few pertinent notes: It’s sorta like the Ryder Cup, only with a team of 12 players from the United States taking on opponents from everywhere in the world EXCEPT Europe. The U.S. is 5-1-1 all-time, as the team’s only loss came in 1998 and the tie took place in South Africa six years ago. And yes, Tiger Woods is playing this week – along with Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and 20 more of the top 60 players in the world.
Today’s format is foursomes, which is a fancy term for alternate shot. Simply put, one player tees off, his teammate hits the next shot and so on until the ball is in the hole. Then they switch roles for the next hole. Because of the format, it’s really like only having two players in each match; as such, expect this day to move very quickly.
First match starts in 10 minutes, with the U.S. twosome of Mickelson and Anthony Kim – who went 0-1-1 at the Ryder Cup together last year – taking on the short-hitting International duo of Mike Weir and Tim Clark. Expect the latter pair to be hitting their approach shots into each green first – which could either be an advantage or disadvantage.
I’ll be here until the final putt drops at the end of the day, offering analysis and updates from the course. As always, I’ll also post the best questions and comments, so submit them to this page or on Twitter at JasonSobel. Should be a fun day of golf with plenty of intrigue, so let’s get going. You may now swing away … |
