THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409180205
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GAINESVILLE, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Did anyone doubt this format would work again?
For the last dozen years, ever since the British Ryder Cup team expanded its squad to include all of Europe and make the matches more competitive, the biennial Ryder Cup matches have been a big-ticket item.
There is no question next year's Ryder Cup at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., will create rabid fan interest.
The Presidents Cup - pitting the top U.S. players against a team of non-European international stars - isn't at that level. Yet.
But as the weekend has progressed, it has been on a steady rise. One can only imagine what it would be like if U.S. Open champion Ernie Els and ailing Greg Norman were here.
International team captain David Graham even went as far as to make a thinly veiled challenge to Els, who refused to break a prior commitment to play, by saying: ``I think the quality of play today (Saturday) proves the potential of a U.S. vs. international event, despite the decision of some of the international players who decided not to play.''
Fans love an us-against-them battle, even if the teams danced around that approach earlier.
``We don't want to lose,'' said Davis Love III, who teamed with Jim Gallagher Jr. to pound Frank Nobilo and Robert Allenby, 7-and-5, in Saturday afternoon's alternate-shot foursomes. ``It can't be a Ryder Cup atmosphere. It can't be as intense. But it can be similar.''
This is competition. And most top professional athletes don't like to lose at touch football, even against their kids.
Someone will come out a winner. There will be no tie, which is a major difference between the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup.
If play is deadlocked at the end of today's matches, if the international team can take eight of the 12 matches today, the names of two players await in envelopes. Is there anyone willing to bet those names aren't Nick Price for the internationals and Corey Pavin for the United States?
This crowd, which has scurried around the Robert Trent Jones Club to find the ``hot'' match of the moment, would cherish a sudden-death playoff.
This isn't just any golf - if you want that, check out the B.C. Open, which is being played this week in relative obscurity, as it should be. The elite U.S. pros are here, not there, for a good reason.
``The top players don't play for money,'' Love said. ``They play to win golf tournaments. They're not thinking about prize money.''
At the Presidents Cup, the two dozen golfers are playing for designated charities.
The other great thing about team matches like this is they bring each player's competitive spirit to the surface. The PGA Tour is dominated by players whose emotions seem to rise only when an unassuming photographer gets in their way.
But in these matches, even the Jeff Maggerts and John Hustons show great emotion, for each hole you win is like a minor victory. High fives are exchanged. There's a wink of an eye and a smile.
And the gallery loves it.
There's as much drama in the captains' pairings as there is in the golf. Graham could have saved Nick Price for the final match of the singles today. But when U.S. co-captain Paul Azinger put Couples' name in the 10th slot during Saturday night's draw, he knew there was no other option.
He looked into the gallery of writers and asked whose name was next. He might as well have started humming the theme song to ``The Price is Right.''
It's what the people want. And it can be found at the Presidents Cup. by CNB