The Presidents Cup Cut Special - Sun 20 Nov

Welcome to this final instalment of The Presidents Cup Cut Special. Well, it is all over at Royal Melbourne as Fred Couples’ US Team triumphed 19-15 over Greg Norman’s Internationals to take out The Presidents Cup for 2011 and gain revenge for their heavy loss back in 1998. After the rain of Saturday, Royal Melbourne was back to being beautiful, blustery and bloody hard for the final 12 singles matches on Sunday and just as it had done all week the beguiling course continued to test the players’ ability to the highest level. Enjoy the read ...

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE OFFICIAL PRESIDENTS CUP WEBSITE.

US Team triumphs 19-15 to enact Royal revenge  

Overturning a four match deficit was always going to be an uphill challenge for Greg Norman’s International team and so it proved as Fred Couples’ US Team triumphed 19-15 to enact revenge for their 1998 Presidents Cup loss.

After more than 16mm of rain fell on the course in the 24 hours from 6.30pm Friday to 6.30pm Saturday, Royal Melbourne Golf Club was back to being beautiful, blustery and bloody hard for the final 12 singles matches on Sunday. Despite Saturday’s rain, the Royal Melbourne greens were effortlessly stimping 13 ahead of the Sunday’s matches. All greens were double cut and rolled (with the exception of Composite 4 – 6 West – which was double cut but not rolled) and as the course dried out throughout the day it again left a lasting impression on many of the players.

For course superintendent Richard Forsyth, the Royal Melbourne links staff and the more than 30 volunteers who have worked their proverbial off for the past two weeks, the end of the tournament was somewhat bittersweet, but no doubt they will enjoy not having to come into work tomorrow! Couples paid particular tribute to the greens staff during the closing ceremony, with many of the course staff getting flags and hats autographed afterwards from both the US and International teams. 

The AGCSA congratulates Richard, assistants Simon Muller, Paul Thomas and Michael Love, foremen John Mann and Andrew Boyle, the Royal Melbourne links staff and course volunteers on a memorable week and presenting one of the game’s most renowned and celebrated golf courses to the world. Keep eye out on the AGCSA’s Flickr photostream in the coming days for all the shots from the past week, as well as the January-February 2012 edition of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal which will carry a full wrap of the tournament.

Here, for the final time are some comments from the players as well as a few shots from the final day of The Presidents Cup 2011. We hope you have enjoyed the regular updates.

TIGER WOODS (US)
When asked what he felt about Royal Melbourne and whether the course had changed much since the last time he played it: "This is an incredible second-shot golf course. They have slowed down the fairways a bit, but still, trying to get after some of these flags, with this wind, it was virtually impossible. And then when the greens are this firm, you had to be very conservative. This would have been frightening if it was strokeplay – not too many guys would have been under par. It’s an amazing golf course. I just wish that more golf courses were designed like this. We don’t have to have a 250-yard par 3 for it to be hard. This week No.5 (7 West) was a hell of a test and it was between a wedge and a 7-iron.” 

When asked about his and Johnson’s 3 and 2 win over Scott and Choi in the Saturday morning foursomes: “It was a day of patience. The weather was kind of iffy and the greens were a different speed; three days, three different speeds. They gave us some pretty tricky pins out there.”

GEOFF OGILVY (INT)
When asked what it was like playing Royal Melbourne this week following Sunday's singles matches: “This has been a big week for us, the Australians. We are very proud of Royal Melbourne and it showed every different aspect of why she’s a great golf course this week. It has been fun to play this week. I can’t imagine a better scenario for a golfer to play on a team on your favourite golf course in your favourite city where you grew up. Team golf is obviously is a rare one but a treat when we get to do it. The fact that we get to showcase a golf course that I’m quite proud of and I know that all the Australians are proud of Royal Melbourne too. She showed every element that she can show in four days which was very appropriate. Everything about the week has been fantastic. Unfortunately the result will put a slight dampener on it but to this point it’s just been nothing but great fun.

When asked on Saturday whether it was difficult having to adapt to the changing conditions: “Well, the last two days, it’s perfect Melbourne really. We had a nice day and then we had a big northerly, really, really hard kind of day and then a really hard day with the wind switching in the middle of the day and rain in the afternoon.  So you have had four seasons in the last three days. That’s typical of what happens in Melbourne. It was difficult to adjust; some guys went from a driver, 9-iron to a driver, wood. That’s a pretty incredible swing in 24 hours. It’s difficult for everyone to adapt, but the US looks like they adapted better this morning (Saturday) and we adapted better this afternoon.”

ERNIE ELS (INT)
When asked about the change in conditions from Friday to Saturday and whether he had played in anything like that?: “I’ve been coming to Melbourne for quite a few years but I’ve only heard about the weather in Melbourne. When we played the Heineken Classic here we had different breezes. I’ve played the north breeze and the southwesterly. But today (Saturday) was quite amazing. I mean, it blew from the north and then it turned around and came from the south. We have had it all this week, which is amazing, on an amazing golf course. We truly are getting tested. You know, yesterday (Friday) it was rock-hard and 35 degrees out there. Now today it was almost blowing like in Scotland. So, it’s great. It’s great to play in different conditions on an unbelievable golf course.”

ROBERT ALLENBY (INT)
When asked about the conditions on Saturday: “The golf course was definitely more accessible today (Saturday). But it’s still tough. It’s tricky. And that’s Royal Melbourne. It’s just such a tricky putting course.”

The AGCSA congratulates course superintendent Richard Forsyth, assistants Simon Muller, Paul Thomas and Michael Love, foremen John Mann and Andrew Boyle, the Royal Melbourne links staff and course volunteers on a memorable week and presenting one of the game’s most renowned and celebrated golf courses to the world. (Keep an eye out on the AGCSA’s Flickr photostream in the coming days for all the shots, and more, which have appeared in The Cut over the past week, as well as the January-February 2012 edition of Australian Turfgrass Management Journal which will carry a full wrap of the Presidents Cup).