Blog: Couples recaps D.C. visit, ready for Cup

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Editor's note: Fred Couples will write a blog for PGATOUR.COM as he prepares for the 2009 Presidents Cup. For more information on the Presidents Cup, click here.

Sept. 22, 2009

Here we are in the second week of September, less than a month away from the start of The Presidents Cup. I can't tell you how exciting it is to be this close to heading to Harding Park and getting the matches started.

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Fred Couples will captain the U.S. Presidents Cup Team this fall.

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A lot has happened since early August. Most importantly, the teams are set. We rounded out the squads last week by making our Captain's Picks in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. It was a busy day and included a very special stop, but I will get to that in a minute. Let's talk about the United States team.

We have a nice blend of players, and I really like some of the potential pairings we could see during the foursomes and four-ball sessions. Jay Haas, my assistant captain, and I have been tossing ideas back and forth regarding pairings.

Obviously when you have a team that includes Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, it makes the captain's job easier. Steve Stricker is fresh off his third victory of the season and is playing as well as anyone in the world right now. It's also nice knowing we have a handful of guys with a wealth of match-play experience in international competition.

Players like Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard have been through these matches before, as well as countless Ryder Cups, and pair nicely with just about everyone on the team. Anthony Kim, one of our two rookies along with Sean O'Hair, cut his teeth in international competition in last year's Ryder Cup and will provide a spark for this team as well.

As you know, I've selected Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan with my two Captain's Picks. Both have played great all year and have experience in The Presidents Cup after competing at Royal Montreal in 2007. They are two great additions to the team, and I know that they will come to Harding Park ready to compete.

Now, back to our day in Washington last week to announce our Captain's Picks. The day began with a press conference at the National Press Club, where Greg and I announced our picks. I had made it pretty clear a couple weeks ago that I was leaning toward Lucas and Hunter, but Greg kept everyone in the dark regarding his picks, Ryo Ishikawa and Adam Scott. We answered a few questions from the media regarding why we picked who we did, thoughts on Harding Park and what kind of final preparations we will be making in the last couple of weeks leading up to The Presidents Cup.

After the press conference, we went to the White House for a brief meeting with President Obama, who will serve as Honorary Chairman of The Presidents Cup. We only had a short time with the president given his busy schedule but were able to spend a little more time with Vice President Biden, who is an avid golfer. I do appreciate the president and vice president lending their support to The Presidents Cup, and it was great to hear their enthusiastic support first hand.

With the PGA TOUR Playoffs finishing up at THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, my guys will have a chance to get one more week of competitive golf under their belts -- and a tough test, at that -- and then rest up before we all travel to San Francisco. Like I said before, this has been a long, fun process, and I can't wait to get things started in a few weeks at Harding Park.

July 1, 2009

A lot has happened in the world of golf since I last checked in. It's hard to believe that in less than four months, The Presidents Cup will be underway in San Francisco. Since I last posted, a couple of players I will be counting on heavily at Harding Park have won on the PGA TOUR, some young guys who may be on the squad for the first time have continued to play well and I was able to play some competitive golf along the way too.

From a captain's perspective, it was nice to see Tiger notch his second victory of the year at the Memorial. He looked stronger than ever, hitting just about every fairway, holing memorable shots from around the green and winning Jack Nicklaus' tournament for a fourth time.

Speaking of Tiger, it looks like the player he clipped by one shot back at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, Sean O'Hair, will be making his Presidents Cup debut. Sean has really shown me a lot for a player who is only 26 years old. Losing to Tiger after taking a five-shot lead into the final round would be a tough pill to swallow for any player on TOUR. However, Sean really showed how tough a competitor he is by bouncing back and besting a world-class field on a great golf course to win the Quail Hollow Championship in Charlotte back in May. He's fifth in the standings right now and I'm excited he may be part of the team.

There's a good chance Sean won't be the only rookie on the squad in October. Brian Gay posted his second victory of the season in impressive fashion last month in Memphis and has jumped into the top 10 in the standings at No. 8. It's so hard to win on the PGA TOUR now and for Brian to have won twice already in the manner he did at Hilton Head and Memphis has been great to see.

Though he wouldn't be a Presidents Cup rookie after competing in 2007 at Royal Montreal, Lucas Glover looked rock solid in that Monday finish at the U.S. Open. He's moved to No. 12 in the standings and his confidence has to be sky high after that victory.

Speaking of the U.S. Open, I caddied for Michael Jordan in the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge the Friday before the U.S. Open. As you probably know, Michael is one of my Assistant Captains for The Presidents Cup. We had a great time, with Michael playing well on the back nine after a tough front side at Bethpage Black.

I'm excited about the balance our team may have between young, up-and-coming players and seasoned veterans. I held a meeting with the players who are in contention to make the U.S. Presidents Cup Team back at THE PLAYERS Championship in May to discuss a few things with the guys. It was great to get everyone together, answer some of their questions -- and ask some of my own.

On a personal note, I've actually been able to put together a couple of nice tournaments over the past couple months. It's been great for me as a player, but I also think it's beneficial in my role as captain as I get a front row seat to observe some of the players competing for a spot on the U.S. Team.

This week's AT&T National at Congressional will be my first tournament since mid-May, so hopefully I can keep the good rounds coming. I always love coming to Congressional. The golf course is great and I broke through for my first PGA TOUR victory here back at the 1983 Kemper Open.

The U.S. Open is already in the rearview mirror and it will be October before we know it. That's it for now. Enjoy your summer and I will check back with you next month.

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March 27, 2009

It's been an interesting two months since I last checked in with all of you. I have played golf with some celebrities, sat down for an interview that I have never done before, accomplished something at a tournament that I haven't done in a while and enjoyed watching the return of the No. 1 player in the world.

Dunn/Getty Images

Couples came very close to overtaking Phil Mickelson at Riviera.

First off, I had a great time playing with Justin Timberlake at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February. I thought for a second I had found the fountain of youth, because suddenly there were a lot of young ladies following my group, not to mention a huge group of photographers. I quickly realized that they weren't there to take a picture of me!

In all seriousness, Justin was great with the fans, and I was very impressed with the way he plays and his passion for golf. Golf is lucky in that many of the world's most famous people fall in love with the game and, in turn, help bring new fans our way. Justin has the opportunity to be a true ambassador for the game of golf.

Speaking of Pebble Beach, I played in the opening rounds of the Buick Invitational the week prior with a young, up-and-comer named Dustin Johnson, who went on to win at Pebble. Dustin has a ton of talent and with two wins under his belt already, he would be a great new edition to The U.S. Presidents Cup Team if he continues to play well. I was happy to have a chance to spend a couple of days with him out on the course and get to know him, and his game, a little better.

A few of the more memorable moments since I last wrote happened the week of the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in Los Angeles. Early in the week, I had the opportunity to be an in-studio guest on Jim Rome's radio show. I have been interviewed on the show via telephone several times before, but this was my first trip to the studio to see Jim, Travis Rodgers, Jason Stewart and the gang. I ended up spending an entire hour on the air talking Presidents Cup, golf and sports and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

To cap off the week, I managed to work myself into contention on Sunday. I played four pretty good rounds of golf and just couldn't do quite enough to win. But it was fun to be back in the hunt. As players, the whole reason we practice as hard as we do is to get that rush of having a chance to win on Sunday. At this stage in my career, it certainly happens less than I would like, but it was a very special week to have it happen at Riviera. I would have liked to have come out on top...but I guess if I'm going to lose, it's nice to lose to one of my "horses" for the U.S. Team, Phil Mickelson.

Speaking of that, watching the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship gave me the rare chance to see a lot of the guys who will be playing in The Presidents Cup in a match-play format. Unfortunately, I came away from the tournament wondering how we are going to cool off the winner of the event, Australian Geoff Ogilvy. Between his victory to start the season at the Mercedes-Benz Championship and his win at the Accenture Match Play Championship, Ogilvy is playing as well as anyone in the world and seems to be a great fit when it comes to match play.

I did see some good things from the Americans, however. Of course, it was great to see Tiger Woods back in action. I tuned in just like the rest of the world to see how he looked on his new knee. From what I can tell, he looked strong and very well-prepared for competition. Stewart Cink was strong as always. It showed great perseverance for him to grind through the consolation match on Sunday and win by holing out a bunker shot on 18.

That's it for now everyone. Thanks for all the support out on the West Coast!