Will Internationals prevent a fast U.S. start?

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Presidents Cups are not won or lost on the first day of competition. Well, they're not supposed to be, anyway. But it's difficult to overstate the importance a fast start can make in determining the outcome.

Just look at the previous Presidents Cup two years ago in Montreal. The U.S. jumped out to a commanding five-point lead after the first day and ultimately beat the Internationals by that same margin.

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That's why both sides have stressed the necessity of avoiding the huge early deficit in Thursday's Foursomes (alternate shot) at Harding Park. The mindset is simply this: If you can't blow out the other team, at least keep things close.

"You need a good first day," said International veteran Ernie Els, who is paired with Adam Scott in a match against Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair. "If you're down by half a point, that's not much. But you can't have a disastrous start like we have had in the past."

Indeed, the big deficit two years ago was not the first time the Internationals have suffered a first-day blowout.

In the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, the Internationals failed to produce a point on the first day. Two years later, they won just one of five points. In 2000, they were again shut out. All three of those events were held in the United States. The Montreal disaster was the first time the Internationals had been abused on Day 1 as the home team.

In the first seven Presidents Cup, the U.S. has a 26-12 cumulative advantage after the first day. It's no wonder they've won five times, tied another and have never lost with the home-course advantage.

"In match play, or in a team competition like this," International Captain Greg Norman said, "it's easier to protect the lead than chase one down.

"When you play stroke play and you're five or six back in the last round, you can actually let it go a little bit and the consequences are either you are going to get there or you're not. So you can bury yourself in obscurity if you don't make it. But here, it's difficult if you are that far down to rev it up and come from behind."

One prevailing reason why the Internationals have gotten off to slow starts is that their players must travel from various parts of the world, certainly a concern this week with players from eight different countries. Els played last week in Scotland. Ryo Ishikawa was winning a golf tournament in Japan. Others went home, traveling through several time zones in the process.

The Americans, of course, endured less collective travel. For Phil Mickelson, for instance, Harding Park is just a quick flight from his home in Southern California. The hardest travel from a U.S. standpoint was the cross-country trips faced by the five players based along the Eastern seaboard.

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Players like Ryo Ishikawa of Japan have to travel halfway around the world before the opening matches.

And even when the Internationals are the home team, the travel benefits only extend to a handful of players. Two years ago, of course, only Canadian star Mike Weir was the beneficiary. In 1998 at Royal Melbourne in Australia, just a third of the 12 International players were from Australia -- evidently, that was good enough, as they beat the U.S. for the first and, thus far, only time.

And it's not just the travel, but the additional time needed by the Internationals to become a cohesive unit, due to their various cultural and language differences. By the time they get comfortable with each other, the tournament may well be half-over.

"When you get people from all over the world," noted International assistant captain Frank Nobilo, "... it takes a little while to get to know who really we are playing with."

Norman and several others on both sides see the lopsided first-day results as more of a reflection of the format rather than a time issue.

Foursomes plainly has been the Achilles' heel for the Internationals. In Montreal, they took just a half-point in 12 Foursomes matches. In 2000, it was just one point in 10 matches.

Consider this: Of the nine International players teeing off Thursday with previous Presidents Cup experience, just one has a winning record in Foursomes. That explains, in large part, why Adam Scott was one of Norman's Captain's Picks.

"Historically, we know America has been dominant in the alternate shot," Nobilo said. 'That's an area that we looked at going back to Greg's selection of Adam Scott."

Cumulatively, those nine Internationals have a Foursomes record of 21-34-8. On the flip side, the 10 Americans with Presidents Cup experience are a collective 34-19-7 in Foursomes, with only Phil Mickelson having a sub-.500 record.

"When you get right down to it, it's foursomes. As simple as that," Norman said. "... The hardest thing Frank Nobilo and I have had to do is figure out how you balance these guys in that type of format in true alternate-shot or true Foresomes, because the dynamics of my team is, again, a little bit more different."

All of which should make for a fascinating Thursday. Will the Internationals finally be able to start strong, or will the Americans maintain their Foursomes dominance?

Either way, the team that gets out of the gate the fastest may very well be the team that celebrates with champagne on Sunday.