From the PGA of America:

In view of the adverse weather conditions today, and the 7 hours, 18 minutes of playing time lost, a new playing schedule has been agreed to for the second and third sessions:

—The 2nd session will comprise six foursome matches.

—The 3rd session will comprise 2 foursome and 4 fourball matches.

—This will be followed by the 12 singles matches.

This means there will still be a total of 28 points available, of which 8 will be decided by foursomes and 8 by fourballs, and it is hoped that play will be completed by Sunday afternoon as scheduled.

If necessary, play will continue into Monday.

This new format will commence Saturday, likely after the first session is completed.

The big deal here is that all players will be on the course at the same time, with no one sitting. That’s neat, because it will test the depths of the teams. And it will test the ability of the Captains, who will have to make some changes on the fly. I think, though, that the new format gives an advantage to the Europeans, whom I think have a deeper team.

As it stands on Friday evening, with no matches complete:

FRIDAY MORNING FOURBALLS
P. Mickelson / D. Johnson vs. L. Westwood / M. Kaymer
Europe 1 Up through 12
S. Cink / M. Kuchar vs. R. McIlroy / G. McDowell
U.S. 2 Up through 11

S. Stricker / T. Woods vs. I. Poulter / R. Fisher
All Square through 10

B. Watson / J. Overton vs. L. Donald / P. Harrington
U.S. 1 Up through 8

There’s a lot of golf to be played in the morning, but I don’t think any of the pundits thought the US would be up at this point. I’m setting my Tivo.

As I hoped yesterday, Phil Mickelson has been paired with Dustin Johnson for at least the first series. The two are leading off for the US against Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. The second group is Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar against Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell. Third is Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker against Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher. Following up is Bubba Watson and Jeff Overton against Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington.

I see a couple of interesting trends. First, I see that Monty is leading with what is arguably his strongest team. On the other hand, Pavin is leading with what I think is his second best. And the first isn’t Stricker and Woods. While Stricker and Woods were 4-0 in last year’s President’s Cup, that was before the Great Meltdown. So I think the strongest pairing for the Americans might be Stewart Cink and Matt Kuchar.

Still, I think Phil and Dustin could be a killer pair. With Dustin’s length, Phil might be able to restrain himself. And Phil’s experience could be the missing piece for the prone-to-self-destruction Dustin. Heh. On the other hand, Phil is also prone to self-destruction, so this pairing could be a disaster.

I think that Donald and Harrington will handle Watson and Overton. Woods and Stricker should be able to beat Poulter and Fisher. So the key matches in my mind are the first two.

I’m wondering why Jim Furyk didn’t get into the opening rounds. He’s coming off some terrific play and I believe that the US has to get off to the bet start possible. I would have paired him with Watson. Or how about a more radical pairing: Furyk and Stricker. That would have been as strong a team as Pavin could field. Then he could have paired Woods with Watson.

The practice round groups may give us some insight into Captain Pavin’s pairings strategies.

TUESDAY

• Group 1: Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, Tiger Woods.
• Group 2: Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar, Jeff Overton.
• Group 3: Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson.

WEDNESDAY

• Group 1: Phil Mickelson, Jeff Overton, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson.
• Group 2: Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker.
• Group 3: Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Stewart Cink.

I think Tiger Woods - Steve Stricker is a done deal. They were 4-0 at the President’s Cup. Last time around, Paul Azinger paired Phil with rookie Anthony Kim and that worked well, so we probably will see Phil paired with another young guy. Rickie Fowler? Dustin Johnson? I actually like the thought of Phil-Dustin, but speculation on the net is that it’ll be Phil-Rickie.

We shall see ...

Friday, October 1
2:30 am - 1 pm
ESPN

Saturday, October 2
8 am - 6 pm
NBC

Sunday, October 3
7am - 1 pm
NBC

It looks to me like the ESPN coverage is live, while NBC is tape delayed. Shame on NBC. An event like this should be shown live. What else does NBC have to do from 2 am to 7 am in the morning?

I’m going out on a limb here and predicting that the US will retain the Cup.

What do you think?

I love the Ryder, President’s and Solheim Cups (and the Walker, for that matter).

In the often repetitious world of professional golf the Cups stand out because they showcase a format not generally seen in professional golf (or for that matter, among amateurs): team play.
Although the concept of team golf seems contrary to what we all “know” about the game, it’s thoroughly embedded in the rules and in the history. Four Ball, Foursomes and Match Play are very interesting and challenging ways to play and weekenders miss quite a bit by not finding a way to incorporate them into their regular play. In particular, I think the USGA could speed up play—while not diminishing player enjoyment—by encouraging match play.

It’s also the case that for me, the Cups also are probably the only time outside the Majors where I get the impression that the players are giving it their all. Too often I get the sense that Tour players have made the calculation that second place—with its accompanying very large paycheck—is good enough. Others seem perfectly content to plod along continually in 40th to 50th place, since that’s really all they need to make a good living and keep their cards.

Players at the Cups, on the other hand, generally give the impression that they care about the results (the Oakland Hills debacle, and Tiger Woods aside). It’s nice to see exuberance of the sort seen in touchdown celebrations, rather than the usual end-of-tournament mumbled thanks to the sponsors while an oversized check is delivered followed by those creepy trophy kisses. I don’t care about the size of the check (physical, or numerical). I like to see guys who are emotional with a win.

So I look forward every year to the Ryder, President’s or Solheim Cups. They’re a nice break from the ordinary.