The Presidents Cup starts today and as the golf season winds down I got to thinking about how the US team would do this year. Tiger is very hot. Phil gave Tiger a run for his money. And some familiar names had good years in 2007. But will that translate to a strong showing in Canada?

One of the thing that worries me is the recent trend in team competitions for US golfers. The Europeans have won 5 of the last 6 Ryder Cups. And although the International Presidents Cup team won't be as strong as the Europeans, the US has not manhandled them in recent years. The 2003 competition was a tie and the US barely won in 2005.

Then when you start looking at our strongest golfers and their records in this event, you start to worry even more. Tiger is 10-9-1 overall and Phil is 9-12-7, so I am not starting to get real excited. We just seem to be a country where golf is so much more an individual sport.

When I then see our team includes Masters Champion Zach Johnson, Charles Howell III, Steve Stricker, Woody Austin, and Lucas Glover, all with limited or no Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup experience, well... it may be a long tournament for us.

I won't get into the debate here about why US golfers don't fare that well in team competition. But I will be watching this week and in the 2008 Ryder Cup to see if the US golfers have had enough of everyone saying that we aren't very good at the team version of golf.

Any prediction, you might ask? Well I hate to say it, but I think that we will end up losing this one to the International team. I just can't see the pairings and chemistry in this team to lead them to a win. I wish it weren't so, and maybe they will prove me wrong.