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the Presidents cupSection Special eventS/competition4the ninth presidents cup will be contestedat the royal melbourne golf clubin australia, the first golf course outsidethe united States to host the presidentscup more than once. reprising their rolesfrom the 2009 event, u.S. team captainFred couples and International teamcaptain greg Norman are both major championship winners and both haveplayed in the presidents cup during their stellar careers. Julia gillard, primeminister of australia, will serve as 2011 Honorary chairperson.muirfield Village golf club will host the presidents cup in 2013, when thebiennial competition returns to the united States. the venue becomes the firstto host the presidents cup, ryder cup and Solheim cupHistorythe presidents cup was developed to give the world’s best non-Europeanplayers an opportunity to compete in international team match-play competition.a biennial event played in non-ryder cup years, the first presidents cupwas played September 16-18, 1994, in the united States at robert trent Jonesgolf club in Virginia. the u.S. team, captained by Hale Irwin, defeated theInternational team, captained by David graham, 20-12.the united States also won the second presidents cup, held September13-15, 1996, played again at robert trent Jones golf club. arnold palmer, nostranger to high-level international competition, had the reins as the unitedStates edged peter thomson’s International team, 16½ -15½.the 1998 presidents cup was played December 11-13 at royal melbournegolf club in melbourne, Victoria, australia. the International team made themost of home-field advantage, winning 20½ -11½. Jack Nicklaus served ascaptain of the u.S. team, while peter thomson repeated his role as captain forthe International team.In 2000, the presidents cup returned to robert trent Jones, with the unitedStates avenging their 1998 loss with a decisive 21½ to 10½ victory over theInternational team. thomson captained the International team for a third time,while Ken Venturi was victorious in his debut as u.S. team captain.the presidents cup 2003 was held at the Links at Fancourt Hotel andcountry club Estate in george, South africa. the competition ended in a tie afterboth teams completed regulation with 17 points. Ernie Els of the Internationalteam and tiger Woods of the u.S. team were designated to represent theirteams in a sudden-death playoff. after three playoff holes, and as darknesswas descending, captains player and Nicklaus, in the spirit of the competition,decided that the two teams would share the cup.In 2005, Nicklaus and player returned as captains, and the matches wereheld once again at the robert trent Jones golf club. the tie from 2003 wasbroken with an 18½ to 15½ united States victory.the u.S. team wrapped up its fifth presidents cup victory in seven tries atroyal montreal golf club in 2007 with a 19½ to 14½ victory, the u.S. team’sfirst at an international venue in the competition’s 13-year history. David tomsearned the most points for the u.S. team, while Woody austin earned severalnew nicknames after falling into the lake on hole 14 while attempting a shot.and while his team did not win, canadian golf hero mike Weir thrilled thecrowds with a 1-up victory over Woods in Sunday’s singles competition.In 2009, the presidents cup was held at Harding park golf course in SanFrancisco, california, one of the top public golf properties in the united States.two of the most dominant players on the pga tour during the 1980s and1990s, Fred couples and greg Norman, led the united States and Internationalteams, respectively. the presidents cup 2009 marked the first time in eventhistory that both captains were former participants in the presidents cup.couples has appeared four times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2005) for the united Statesand Norman three (1996, 1998, 2000) for the Internationals, and both factoredprominently in victories secured by their respective teams.as first-time captains at the presidents cup 2009, couples and Normaneach led strong teams as they competed in front of record crowds at Hardingpark. the u.S. team retained the cup, winning for the sixth time, by a score of19½ to 14½.Former u.S. president gerald Ford presided over the first presidents cup asHonorary chairman. Former president george H.W. Bush, like Ford an avid golfer,served as Honorary chairman for the presidents cup 1996. australian primeminister John Howard was Honorary chairman for the 1998 event. In 2000,president Bill clinton made history when he became the first sitting president toserve as Honorary chairman. In 2003, thabo mbeki, president of the republic ofSouth africa, was Honorary chairman. current president george W. Bush servedas the Honorary chairman of the presidents cup 2005; canadian prime ministerStephen Harper was the 2007 Honorary chairman; and u.S. president Barackobama was the 2009 Honorary chairman.the presidents cup follows the pga tour creed of giving back. there is nopurse for the players. Net revenues are divided into equal shares that the playersand captains designate for charities or golf-related projects of their choice. thefirst eight presidents cups have generated nearly $22 million for approximately340 charities worldwide, including a record-tying $4.2 million donation from the2009 event.eligibilitymembers of the 2011 u.S. presidents cup team are chosen based on theten u.S. players who earn the most official pga tour money beginning withthe 2009 Wyndham championship through the 2011 BmW championship,weighted as follows: 1 point for every $1 earned in 2009-2010; and 2 pointsfor every $1 earned in 2011. the International presidents cup team is made upof the top-10 international players (excluding those eligible for the Europeanryder cup team) from the official World golf ranking through the 2011 BmWchampionship. Both 12-man teams are rounded out by two captain’s choicesper team.Structure and Scoringthe presidents cup competition consists of 34 matches—11 foursomes(alternate shot) and 11 four-ball (better ball) matches. there are 12 singlesmatches involving all players on the final Sunday. all matches are worth onepoint each, for a total of 34 points. Foursome and Four-ball matches all squareat the end of 18 holes are halved, with each side receiving ½ point. Singlesmatches all square after 18 holes will to go extra holes until a match winner isdetermined. the winning team will have to accumulate no less than 17½ pointsto win the presidents cup. In a change inspired by the events of the presidentscup 2003, if the match is deadlocked at the end of singles play, the competitionwill be deemed a tie and the teams will share the presidents cup.Dates Site ScoreSept. 16-18, 1994 robert trent Jones gc, prince William co., Va u.S. 20, International 12Sept. 12-15, 1996 robert trent Jones gc, prince William co., Va u.S. 16 1 /2, International 15 1 /2Dec. 10-13, 1998 royal melbourne gc, melbourne, australia International 20 1 /2, u.S. 11 1 /2oct. 19-22, 2000 robert trent Jones gc, prince William co., Va u.S. 21 1 /2, International 10 1 /2Sept. 20-23, 2003 the Links at Fancourt, george, South africa u.S. 17, International 17Sept. 22-25, 2005 robert trent Jones gc, prince William co., Va u.S. 18 1 /2, International 15 1 /2Sept. 27-30, 2007 the royal montreal golf club, montreal, canada u.S. 19 1 /2, International 14 1 /2oct. 8-11, 2009 Harding park golf course, San Francisco, ca u.S. 19 1 /2, International 14 1 /2Nov. 17-20, 2011royal melbourne gc, melbourne, australiaoctober 3-6, 2013muirfield Village gc, Dublin, oH(The United States leads the series, 6-1-1.)4-2 PGA TOUR 2011 Guidepgatour.com