by Nancy Berkley.
Seldom do I write about men’s golf tournaments, but this week is an exception. This weekend – Thursday, October 8th through Sunday October 11th 2015 – twelve professional golfers on the men’s United States Team will compete in match-play format against twelve golfers on the men’s International Team for the PGA Tour’s President’s Cup. Yes, another of the International Cups!
The President’s Cup tournament was established in 1994 and is played in alternate years of the men’s Ryder Cup. This will be the eleventh competition, and the U.S. Team has won all but three President’s Cups. The President’s Cup comes at the end of the PGA Tour season – after the FedEx Cup matches – and at the beginning of the U.S. football season. Several proposals are always circulating about how to create more fan interest in the President’s Cup.
This year, the President’s Cup will be played at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon City, South Korea. This will be the 11th President’s Cup but the first to be played in Asia. See the President’s Cup website for good background and a list of the twelve players on each team.
If the President’s Cup format sounds familiar, it should. Two weeks ago, women golfers on Team USA made their historic comeback to win back the Solheim Cup from Team Europe’s women golfers. (read all about the Solheim Cup) And even more golf fans probably remember the string of Ryder cup victories of Team Europe over Team USA.
But, there is something different about the upcoming PGA Tour President’s Cup. Unlike the men’s Ryder Cup and the women’s Solheim Cup, the United States Team in the President’s Cup will play against an “International Team” that excludes players from Europe including England, Scotland and Ireland.
So, if you want to watch top male European golfers compete against top male U.S. golfers, watch the Ryder Cup. But if you want to watch non-European male golfers – perhaps from Korea, Japan or Australia — play against U.S. male golfers, watch the Presidents Cup. The “either-or” dilemma in men’s international golf competitions is troubling as the cups “runneth” over.
The LPGA was ahead of the curve when it introduced the International Crown Tournament in 2014. Thank goodness they play for a “Crown” and not another “Cup.”
The LPGA’s International Crown computes the Rolex rankings of top female golfers in countries all over the world. The eight countries with the highest rankings among its top golfers will compete against each other – matchplay formats – in the second International Crown Tournament in July 2016 in Sugar Grove, Illinois – outside Chicago. The LPGA’s International Crown is the only tournament (other than the upcoming 2016 Olympics in Rio) that offers golfers the opportunity to compete against each other – country vs. country – regardless of the continent they come from.
The LPGA understands what it means to be a global golf tour. The LPGA is now translating and adapting its golf-professional-teaching materials for use by other countries. I recall being in Bangkok a few years ago when the biggest billboard in Bangkok’s “times square” was the announcement for the upcoming LPGA Tour event.
As the men’s PGA Tour’s President’s Cup is being played this coming weekend, the LPGA Tour has already begun its “Asian Swing.” For the next two months, the LPGA Tour will play in Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan and Mexico with many Winner’s Cups to be awarded. After the “Asian Swing,” the LPGA tour convenes November 12-15 at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. Visit the LPGA website to follow the tournament results and background stories.
In each tournament – all season long — LPGA players who play well have been accumulating “Race to the CME” points. See the LPGA website for a good explanation of how the CME Globe competition works. The CME Group is a global communications company so it’s a perfect fit with the LPGA.
The 2015 LPGA season concludes with the final CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida at the Tiburon Golf Club, November 16-22. And the winner receives – you guessed it: A CME Cup! But that’s not too bad since this cup also comes with a $500,000 check!
