It is certainly fair to say that the Presidents Cup has come in for quite a lot of ridicule over the years, with the USA winning 13 of the 15 stagings of the event.
The last two Presidents Cup events have proved to be underwhelming, with the USA securing two largely comfortable victories. The International side have suffered immensely since the start of LIV Golf, with so many of their stalwarts deciding to make the jump.
In truth, the USA have been largely dominant throughout the event’s 31-year history. But there was a spell around the turn of the century when the Internationals showed their potential as a real force.
They secured their only victory at Royal Melbourne in 1998. And while they were beaten again in 2000, there was reason for optimism when the Presidents Cup headed to South Africa for the first time in 2003.
Of course, there was only one choice for captain that year, with Gary Player leading the Internationals for the very first time. He would be facing his great rival, Jack Nicklaus, with the 18-time major champion getting his second go at captaining the USA. Nicklaus had overseen the defeat in 1998.
What followed at Fancourt prompted Nicklaus to label the 2003 Presidents Cup ‘the most thrilling event’ he had been involved in.
The story of the 2003 Presidents Cup
USA had won the opening session in three of the first four Presidents Cups. In fact, they had led 5-0 after the first set of matches on two occasions.
However, it would be the Internationals who had the edge after Thursday’s six foursome matches. They led 3.5-2.5 with both Nick Price and Mike Weir, and Ernie Els and Adam Scott edging tight matches. Weir was one of three players on the International team inside the top six in the world rankings having won The Masters earlier in the year.
It did appear that that optimism had evaporated after Friday’s two sessions. While Els and Tim Clark beat Tiger Woods and Charles Howell III in the morning four ball, USA took a commanding lead after winning seven of the day’s 10 matches.
But Saturday saw one of the most remarkable sessions in Presidents Cup history.
The Internationals went from three points behind to leading by three after winning all six matches. World number two Vijay Singh won alongside Retief Goosen against Woods and Howell III.
USA’s unlikely leading points scorer Kenny Perry suffered his only defeat of the week on Saturday. Scott and KJ Choi beat Perry and Jerry Kelly 5&4.
How the Presidents Cup ended in a tie after a playoff between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els
It was the Masters champion up against the winner of the US Open in the top match of the Sunday singles, with Weir facing Jim Furyk.
But there was no doubt at all over the marquee match of the day. Home favourite Els faced Woods in the penultimate game.
Remarkably, their match would prove to not be the most significant battle between the pair on that Sunday in the city of George.
The USA managed to fight back. The first three matches went the visitors’ way, with Furyk beating Weir 3&1.
In fact, Choi would win the Internationals’ only point in the first six matches.
It was Woods who won the clash of the titans, with a 4&3 victory over Els. That helped set the stage for the scoreline to end up at 17-17 once all of Sunday’s matches had concluded.
While a Ryder Cup would end there, the rules in the Presidents Cup at the time meant that a playoff would be required.
In fact, at the start of the week, both Player and Nicklaus nominated a player to represent their sides if a playoff was needed. It turned out that it would be Woods and Els facing off once again.
The pair would end up playing three more holes, with Woods making a putt Player labelled ‘impossible’ to pile the pressure on Els on what would prove to be the final hole of the event.
Els was up to the task in the fading light. By that stage, it became apparent that no more golf could be played that evening.
Talks broke out between the two sides on the same green, with Nicklaus eventually ending up on the phone to PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem to inform him that both sides wanted to settle on a tie rather than continue.
The problem was that the rules stated that USA would retain the cup in that event. With that, Player was prepared to send Els to the next tee.
The discussions continued. But Nicklaus and his team ended the stalemate by telling Player that they would be ready to share the cup with the International team.
And thus, the first and only tie in the history of the Presidents Cup was in the books, with Player and Nicklaus raising each other’s hands as the darkness completely descended on Fancourt.