Americans Favored In President's Cup

NFL News - October 6th, 2009 - Written by John

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have learned to settle their differences. Two weeks ago, they were on each other's side, leaning on one another for completely different goals. In Mickelson could win the Tour Championship, Woods would be the overall FedEx Cup winner with a $10 million bonus. And if Woods could hold off the rest of the field, Mickelson could win his first title since learning his wife, Amy, and mother had breast cancer. Well, they did and both ended up with equal smiles and similar trophies at the end of the Playoffs.

Now, they are back in the ring together, part of the President's Cup tournament this week. It is bigger than the Ryder Cup, yet smaller. A tournament with a vaster field, yet with less significance to those in it with a head-to-head format that pits the United States against International Competition. Instead of Europe being the only region to compete against the U.S., as in the Ryder Cup, players like Ernie Els and Greg Norman are on the International Team. Norman was actually invited to be the captain of the team, although he was hoping to wait two years and captain the games when they came to his native country of Australia.

"We all grew up watching Greg in Australia and what he did for the game down there and the game around the world," fellow Aussie Adam Scott boasted. "He's been a great ambassador for the game.

"I think he'll be a great captain as well. I think he's going to bring something different to the Presidents Cup this year than we've had in the last few years, which happens with every new captain, and I think the guys are really excited."

The last time Australia was the host, Norman led the International team to it's only win over the Americans. He went 3-1-1 in that 1998 match, his only loss coming to then-22 year old Woods. Woods won 1-up.

"You're playing against probably -- I'd have to say he is the biggest icon that Australia has produced," Woods said on ESPN.com. "Certainly there was a lot of people following our match, because one, they had already secured the Presidents Cup. They were, I don't know, 50,000 points ahead of us or something. It was a whitewash there. That was kind of the key matchup. [Captain] Jack [Nicklaus] asked, 'Would you like to go against Greg?' And I said, 'Hell, why not?' To go against Greg in his home country like that …"

The United States is actually the favorite again, according to BetUS, with a moneyline of -350. The International team is getting a payout of +250, despite having a larger pool to draw from. But the real money can be made if there's a tie. The sportsbook is offering a return of +1800 if neither team separates itself after the fourth day.

There are also several interesting prop bets offered, like top America scorer. Woods gets the obvious advantage with a payout of +350 (he is also projected to be the best overall scorer at +500). But close behind him are Mickelson, who has the most President's Cup appearances on the American side (8), and Steve Stricker, who had a very steady year with three wins and finished third in the FedEx Cup standings. After that, Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim are the only remaining players in triple digits, each at +800. Zach Johnson leads off the quadruples at +1000 and the list grows from there.

On the international side, there are actually seven golfers with triple-digit moneylines, but the favorite is less clear. Ernie Els, who has only been in one President's Cup, tops the list along with Retief Goosen and Geoff Ogilvy at +650.

To discuss this and other NFL related stories be sure to check out our new forum at:
https://www.usaplayers.com/forums/