NEWS FLASH! I've Fixed the Presidents Cup!

The Shark Shootout has inspired me today. I've figured out how to make the Presidents Cup more competitive.

I'm changing the format. Each day is a different kind of "ball":

DAY 1: Hard Ball. This is the regular alternate-shot format where one player tees off and the other player hits the next shot. Everybody has trouble with this, so let's get it out of the way first.

DAY 2: Better Ball. This is the regular fourball, where each player plays his own ball and you count the score of the team member with the best score.

Usually the 3rd day has 10 matches, 5 each of alternate-shot and fourball. Each team gets to "hide" two players in each type of match, and there's 36 holes of play. POPPYCOCK!

DAY 3: Best Ball. Let's scramble, baby! The final day at the Shark Shootout is a scramble where both players hit the tee shot, they pick the best and then each player hits the second shot, they pick the best and then both players hit... you get the picture. It's not unusual to see scores in the 50s with a scramble, so this would give the team that fell behind the first 2 days a chance to catch up. Everybody plays, but there are only 6 matches and 18 holes (like the first 2 days).

DAY 4: Your Own Ball. We finish up with the regular singles matches.

This means we now have 30 points available (6 + 6 + 6 + 12), so the winning side needs 15.5 points to take the Cup. It seems very workable to me.

Of course, if that doesn't work, perhaps we could play just the last 3 days and give the struggling team those first 6 points... consider it "handicapping the field."

But I suspect the best solution is the simplest. The International Team probably wouldn't need any changes at all if they just used one Captain's Pick to take Nick Price!