Presidents Cup Picks
The writers and editors of GOLF Magazine and Sports Illustrated reveal which team they think will win the 2007 Presidents Cup.
Gary Van Sickle
Senior Writer, Sports Illustrated
Pick: United States
As of mid-August this seemed like a slam dunk for the International team. They seemed better, deeper and hotter than the Americans. Then Tiger regained his '01 form and at Southern Hills, Phil re-entered the building in Boston and Steve Stricker traveled back in time a decade. Meanwhile, some of the Internationals' big guns have been living on reputation instead of results. Then I sat down for some intense, in-depth research. Two minutes later, I could only conclude that the Americans have the edge. They're not better, but they're slightly more lukewarm.
Actually, the Americans rate an edge because of their putting. Besides Woods, they have Stricker, Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Scott Verplank, and Jim Furyk (left) — all stars with the short stick. The International team's only truly terrific putters are Ernie Els, Mike Weir and Geoff Ogilvy. The others are spotty at best (Sabbatini and Choi) and not so good at worst (Trevor Immelman and Angel Cabrera). Putting is so important in match play that this may be the deciding factor.
Van Sickle's first round picks | Leaderboard
Credit: John Biever/SI
NEXT SLIDE
Share
Facebook
Twitter
