Couples: Finalizing the teams and playing winning golf

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Editor's note: U.S. Captain Fred Couples and his International counterpart Greg Norman will be writing blogs periodically during 2011. You can read Couples' blog below. To read Norman's blog, click here.

October 20, 2011

Hello everyone, time for another update as we're roughly a month out from The Presidents Cup in Melbourne. The teams are now finalized, and it's going to be tournament week before we know it.

Greg and I completed our respective teams late last month with our captains' selections, and while it was a difficult decision, I am happy with my choices. In Tiger Woods you have a player who dominated the game like no one else for the better part of 12 years. He's a guy I wanted on the team and a guy I know the other players wanted on the team, so it was a natural fit. My other pick was Bill Haas. Bill has played extremely well over the last two years, and I was thoroughly impressed with how he handled the tremendous pressure of winning the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola and the FedExCup. He knew going in he had to win the tournament for me to pick him and he went out and did it. It was a close race for that final spot and a tough decision picking Bill over Brandt Snedeker and Keegan Bradley, but Bill went out and won the tournament, and I picked him.

Now that the team is set, it's my job along with my Assistant Captains Jay Haas and Michael Jordan to make sure the players are as prepared as possible for the matches. I think one of the most important things is having as many players as possible compete the week before. As of right now I believe eight of the 12 players on the team are playing in Sydney the week before we head to Melbourne.

Switching gears a bit, it's been great to get back into playing competitive golf. I've had a busy stretch recently on the Champions Tour, playing the SAS Championship, Insperity Championship and the AT&T Championship the last three weeks. I've got the Charles Schwab Cup Championship coming up at the end of the month -- a return to Harding Park where I have a lot of fond memories from the '09 Presidents Cup! -- then it's off to Australia.

The Presidents Cup is right around the corner and I'm excited for it to get here. Thanks for your support over the past two years. Until next time ...

September 13, 2011

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I last wrote. On a personal note, it was great to pick up my first victory of the season and first major championship on the Champions Tour last month at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship at Westchester. It's been a frustrating year for me in that I've had to fight through some health issues, so to overcome those and notch the first win of the year -- and to do so at one of our majors -- was very special.

In terms of my role as captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup Team, the last month or so has certainly been encouraging as well. From Keegan Bradley's victory at the PGA Championship to Webb Simpson's victories at the Wyndham Championship and Deutsche Bank Championship, plus Dustin Johnson winning The Barclays, it's been a great stretch for the young Americans on TOUR. I had the opportunity to play with Keegan for the first time at the Shell Houston Open back in April and was really impressed with what I saw. He's a young guy that plays fearless golf and never gives up, which really was apparent on Sunday at the PGA. If he ends up on our squad in Australia, I know he's a player we can count on.

We all know how talented Dustin is and to see him break through for his first victory this year was nice. I was also happy to see my old caddie, Joe LaCava, get his first victory with Dustin. They've been working together since May, and I know that was a big victory for them both.

Webb's a guy that I really got to know for the first time at the meeting I held for potential team members back at the Memorial in June. He's knocked on the door all season, so for him to post two victories in a three-week span should be huge for his confidence heading into the conclusion of the FedExCup Playoffs and leading into The Presidents Cup.

The 10 automatic berths on my team will be determined this Sunday at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, then I'll make my two Captain's selections on Tuesday, Sept. 27. So that gives players one more shot at the TOUR Championship to make an impression.

This is an exciting time for all of us associated with The Presidents Cup, and once the teams are announced, we're down to crunch time in preparing for Australia. Talk to you again soon.

July 15, 2011

Hello again. It's time for another Presidents Cup blog and an update on what's been going on, both with me personally and with the U.S. Team. Unfortunately, as far as my golf is concerned, it's been a quiet summer. I played at the Memorial last month, my first competitive rounds in over a month, and didn't play as well as I would have liked, but had a productive week in my role as captain, as we had a great meeting with more than 20 potential members of the team. I've been able to watch a lot more golf than I ever imagined this summer, which has been a good way to keep track of the guys, but I'm looking forward to playing competitively again soon.

It's been nice to see a couple of Americans pick up their second victories of the year the last two weeks at the AT&T National and John Deere Classic. Although they're on different ends of the experience spectrum, I expect both Nick Watney and Steve Stricker to be major contributors to our team in Melbourne. Nick's an exciting young player who can make a ton of birdies, which he displayed in shooting that 27 on the back nine Saturday at Aronimink. He's third in the U.S. Team standings right now, and I know he's excited to represent his country in The Presidents Cup for the first time. And what can you say about Steve? He was such a big factor in our team's success in 2009 at Harding Park and he's No. 1 in the standings after winning the John Deere Classic for the third consecutive year. Steve's a player I know will play well with anyone I pair him with, which is a huge asset for me as captain.

There's also tremendous competition for the last automatic spots as well. You've got veterans like David Toms (No. 8) and Jim Furyk (No. 9) "on the bubble" next to young guys like Brandt Snedeker (No. 10), Bill Haas (No. 11) and Bo Van Pelt (No. 12). You can bet Jay Haas, one of my assistants along with Michael Jordan, will be pulling for his son Bill to continue to play well and have a chance of making the team.

I'll be watching closely over the coming weeks and months, but I like the mix of players I'm seeing at the top of the standings right now. It's always difficult to make the two Captains' selections and this year will be no different. Enjoy the British Open this weekend and I look forward to checking in again soon.

June 15, 2011

Hello, everyone. Time to check in and give you all an update on what's been going on recently. Unfortunately, one thing I haven't been doing much of is playing golf. After back-to-back starts in April at the Shell Houston Open and The Masters, my back really started giving me problems and I had to shut it down for a couple of weeks. I played the Regions Tradition, the first major championship on the Champions Tour, and I felt like my back was starting to improve. I was hoping to play the Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla, but I had to withdraw.

I went back to the PGA TOUR at the beginning of the month, and had a great week at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield. I was able to catch up with more than 20 potential members of U.S. Presidents Cup team.

The attendance at the meeting reflected the talent that could potentially be on this year's team with great young players like Bubba Watson, Matt Kuchar, Bill Haas and Rickie Fowler, as well as Presidents Cup veterans like Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker on hand. There are also some other great players trying to make the team like Jonathan Byrd and Mark Wilson who are having a spectacular years and David Toms, who rebounded so well from his playoff loss at THE PLAYERS to come back and win the next week -- man, I'm lucky to have so many great choices!

I'm excited to once again be sharing this experience with two close friends, Jay Haas and Michael Jordan. Both are very excited about the trip, especially with this being Michael's first time to Australia. It's great to know that he is thoroughly excited and fired up to once again help our team to victory as he did in San Francisco. Michael is such a great competitor and there are various ways that he can serve to help our team.

I'm excited to see how the summer unfolds and hopefully play some good golf myself before November.

Talk to you again soon.

March 29, 2011

I'm sure I'll be saying something like this every time I write... but it's hard to believe March is almost over. The year is just flying by, which means The Presidents Cup will be here before we know it. It's been an exciting year so far, and I've enjoyed playing a few events on both the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour -- and interacting with some of the guys who will be on the U.S. Team in November.

First of all, thanks for all of the support at the Northern Trust Open last month. I love that tournament and love playing at Riviera Country Club. I kind of turned back the clock there for a while and found myself in the final group with Aaron Baddeley and Kevin Na -- two candidates to make their first Presidents Cup later this year. I got off to a crazy start with birdies on the first three holes, but then kind of lost momentum when I hit into the rough on No. 7. It was a great feeling being back in the hunt on the PGA TOUR, but disappointing not to close out the week with a victory.

Like I said before, one of the best things about playing on the TOUR now is catching up with the guys who are trying to make the U.S. Team. I kind of pick on the guys a bit ... Rickie Fowler and Bill Haas and Nick Watney... I talked to them in Phoenix and L.A. and told them I'm expecting them to play well and have great years and work their way onto this team. I wouldn't be shocked if all three of them were on it, or two out of the three. Bubba Watson, now Mark Wilson with two wins. These are guys that can really play golf.

And if I'm not out each week, I'm certainly keeping track of what's going on in every tournament. It's been fun to watch some of the young American players come on strong this year, especially the last couple of weeks with Nick's victory at Doral and Gary Woodland winning Transitions. For me, it would be great to have some of these young players mixed in with Presidents Cup veterans like Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Steve Stricker. And I'm probably leaving out guys. It's such a great event -- it should be a goal for every American player and for all the International guys as well, of course.

Between now and my next blog, I'll be playing the Shell Houston Open this week -- with Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan in the first two rounds -- and then, of course, the Masters. I look forward to updating you again soon as we get closer and closer to Australia. Until next time ...

January 20, 2011

Hello again! It's hard to believe, but 2011 is well underway and The Presidents Cup in November will be here before we know it. There's a lot of work to be done between now and then. This year's matches in Australia will provide some new challenges, mainly trying to beat the International Team and Captain Greg Norman on his home turf, but it will be nice to draw on the positive experiences from Harding Park in 2009.

I'm in Hawaii for two weeks to kick off the Champions Tour season. This week is the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, where I made my Champions Tour debut last year, and even though I didn't win, it was one of the most memorable weeks of the year. Any time you get to compete head-to-head with Tom Watson down the stretch of a golf tournament, you know it's going to be fun (and doing so in Hawaii is always a bonus). I've played in just a couple of events since the Charles Schwab Cup last fall, so I'm ready for the 2011 season to start.

Next week is the Champions Skins Game over on Maui, which should be a fun, laid-back couple of days. I'm partnering for the second-consecutive year with my good friend Nick Price. We'll do our best to get the better of Watson and Jack Nicklaus, who won the event last year. The other two teams are Ben Crenshaw/Fuzzy Zoeller and Bernhard Langer/Mark O'Meara.

I haven't finalized my early-season schedule beyond next week, but I'd like to mix in some PGA TOUR events this spring before the Masters. I still enjoy playing on the TOUR as long as I'm competitive, plus it gives me the opportunity to talk and interact with the guys who will eventually make up the U.S. Team this November. I will let you know as my schedule comes together.

Even though it's early, I'm excited with the U.S. Team rankings as they stand right now. I think we've got a nice mix of veterans, guys like Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and of course, Tiger Woods, along with some younger guys. I was impressed with how Rickie Fowler, Jeff Overton and Matt Kuchar handled themselves in their first international competition at last year's Ryder Cup, so we should have a nice mix. It will be interesting to see how things develop throughout the year.

There's a lot of work to be done, but I'm excited about my second turn as captain of the U.S. Team. I'll do my best to keep all of you updated with how the preparations are going over the next 10 months. Until next time...