Internationals seek to reverse foursomes fortunes

The eighth edition of the Presidents Cup got underway Thursday with the International team hoping to generate some heat in the cool, foggy weather at Harding Park Golf Course.

The event, which pits the United States against an International team drawn from all parts of the globe except Europe, opens with six foursomes matches.

The spotlight was squarely on the fifth match - between superstar Tiger Woods and US teammate Steve Stricker and former US Open champ Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and Japanese teen sensation Ryo Ishikawa.

Ishikawa was looking forward to the challenge, even as he remained aware of his opponents' stature.

"I know that for the US team, Mr. Woods and Mr. Stricker, they are going to be basically the No. 1 team," Ishikawa said. "And I'm very excited because of the fact that Mr. Couples picked Mr. Woods and Mr. Stricker to be our opponents. Obviously, this is going to be an important match.

"I feel that if we can win this one, maybe we can stop the American team from getting out of their rhythm."

Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim, who teamed successfully at the Ryder Cup last year, launched the US challenge in the opening match against Canadian Mike Weir and South African Tim Clark.

They halved the par-five first hole with pars.

The foursomes matches have often been a stumbling block for the Internationals.

In Montreal two years ago, the United States emerged from the opening day with a 5.5-.5 lead and went on to win 19.5-14.5.

The Americans have never lost on home soil, and have in fact only lost once, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne.

On paper, the Internationals, captained by Australian Greg Norman, are underdogs, with seven of their 12 players without a victory this year. Of those who have won, Angel Cabrera of Argentina won the Masters, and South Korean Yang Yong-Eun became the first Asian man to win a major with his triumph at the PGA Championship.

"We normally come here with a very good team on paper, and it seems like this year, some of us haven't played that great," South African Ernie Els said. "We feel like we are underdogs, and I think we kind of want to prove something this week."

Fiji's Vijay Singh, a veteran of all of the Presidents Cups, said past history wouldn't matter once the event was underway.

"You just have to go out there and play good golf, and I think that's what the guys are geared up for," he said. "Hopefully, the golf is going to be a little bit more favorable to us this time."

In the day's other matches Els and Aussie Adam Scott faced Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair, Singh and Robert Allenby played US Open champion Lucas Glover and British Open winner Stewart Cink. Cabrera and Colombian Camilo Villegas played Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson and Yang and South African Retief Goosen played Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard.