Notebook: Old vs. young is a likely matchup

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International teammates Ryo Ishikawa (left) and Geoff Ogilvy hung out Tuesday with former president Bill Clinton.

SAN FRANCISCO -- With the pairings of Thursday's foursomes to be announced Wednesday afternoon, it's no surprise that the respective captains are being tight-lipped about their choices. But evidently at some point this week, we can expect a matchup involving the oldest and youngest players at this week's Presidents Cup.

That would be 49-year-old American Kenny Perry against the International's 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa.

"I'm sure it will happen one of the days over the four days," U.S. Captain Fred Couples said Tuesday.

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"If he gets paired with Ishikawa," added International Captain Greg Norman, "it will be an interesting matchup."

Considering that the captains alternate having the opportunity to match up pairings against the opponents, old vs. young seems likely.

But the storylines for Perry and Ishikawa are not limited to their ages.

For Perry, it has been an emotional time in the last week, with the death of his mother after a long battle with cancer. Both Couples and Norman expressed their condolences to Perry, who decided to honor his family's wishes by keeping his commitment to the Presidents Cup.

"For him to be here shows the reflection he has for Freddie," Norman said, "... (and) also to the game and what the Presidents Cup is all about."

Ishikawa, meanwhile, not only is making his first appearance at the Presidents Cup, but he may be the hottest player on the International team. He comes off a one-stroke win at the Tokai Classic, his fourth win this year on the Japan Tour.

"It's a dream come true to be in this event," said Ishikawa, one of Norman's two Captains picks, "but I'm nervous at the same time."

Norman is confident the teenager will hold up under the pressure of the team competition.

"For a kid of his young age," Norman said, "he's got heaps of maturity about him."

TIGER VS. YANG?: Perhaps the most intriguing possibility for a pairing is Tiger Woods against Y.E. Yang in Sunday singles.

Yang, of course, became the first player to overtake Woods in the final 18 holes of a major when he came from two shots back to win the PGA Championship at Hazeltine. Until that point, Woods had never lost a major when leading after 54 holes.

Yang already seems prepared for the matchup.

"Tiger is going to probably come out with a vengeance if he is teamed up against me the final day," Yang said.

"I will try to play with a similar strategy to try and play my own game, and I won't try to force anything."

HARDING PARK GREENS: The damage caused to nine greens that were over-fertilized in late July don't appear to be as much of a concern as the players first feared.

"The greens are now that they were when we were here four years ago (for the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship) but certainly not as bad as everyone made them out to be," Woods said.

Vast improvements in the condition of those greens have been made in the last few days, and a favorable weather forecast should have the greens ready when the competition begins Thursday. Plus, it helps that only 24 players are here this week.

"You're only putting 24 guys out there," said Woods' American teammate, Jim Furyk, "so it's not like (the greens) are going to get pounded."

Players on both sides say they are looking forward to favorable scoring conditions at Harding Park.

"The golf course is in good shape," said International player Camilo Villegas, making his first Presidents Cup appearance. "It's not crazy tough and the rough is not crazy high and the greens are not crazy fast or firm.

"It's going to be a good opportunity to score and make birdies and have fun out there."

NEW CONFIGURATION: More than half of the 24 players were in the field in 2005 when Harding Posted the American Express Championship.

But while the course may look familiar to those 13 players, the configuration certainly won't.

For instance, the opening hole at the Presidents Cup is the 10th hole under the usual lineup. The closing hole this week is the ninth hole on any other week.

And the closing four holes in the usual lineup are now the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th holes this week, essentially ensuring that those well-regarded holes will come into play on every match.

The course configuration goes: Front nine (Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 4, 5, 6, 2, 3) and back nine (Nos. 14, 8, 15, 16, 17, 18, 1, 7, 9).

"It's just a different order," shrugged Woods, who won the 2005 event in a playoff against John Daly.

QUIZ CAPTAIN: Who was that asking those "tough" questions in the back of the interview room Tuesday?

That would be last year's victorious Ryder Cup Captain Paul Azinger, who was interested to know what the International team is doing for fun in their team room.

The reply from Adam Scott mentioned the obligatory ping-pong table, a pool table and an arcade machine. "Ryo was on that today," Scott said.