Davis Love

Stuart Appleby, meanwhile, sees the International team as basically a commonwealth combination of South African and Australian players who come from a background of rugby and cricket, think alike and should find it very easy to knit together.

These are just some of the thoughts that have been expressed by players of both the American and International teams as this weekend's Presidents Cup matches loom large in their minds.

Here is a random collection of some of their pre-match thoughts with their up-to-date Presidents Cup playing records which are listed in brackets (won-lost-drawn) alongside their names:

Davis Love III  (12-5-2 ): "We're more familiar certainly with the opposing Presidents Cup team. They are guys on our (US PGA) Tour. They are friends. We travel with them. We live with them, and it's a little bit different. It's more friendly, certainly, off the golf course, maybe a little bit more friendly on the golf course. But with that familiarity brings the fact that we know these guys. We know how good they are. We know what to expect. We know their games and we know how hard it's going to be to beat them."

Love has also been quoted as saying, "It puts pressure on you when you're playing for a team. You're not just playing for your own individual score. You have a captain. You have a co-captain. You have teammates. You have wives. You have friends and family and all your fans back home pulling for you. When they put that flag up, it definitely gets you more focused on what you're doing."

Stuart Appleby  (2-4-1):  "We (The Internationals) have a predominantly South African (and) Australian team. The South African and Australian relationships have been around for ages, obviously, with our sports rugby and cricket. So I think we come from a similar family of thought, really. I think that might make it a little easier. Obviously, Mike (Weir of Canada) fits in anywhere, and K.J.(Choi of South Korea) fits in fantastic, too, so I think we've got a good jelled team already, straight out of the blocks, before we get into wearing uniforms and getting over there and having dinners and so on."

Jim Furyk (4-4-0): "Patriotism is very important, but probably more important really is for those countries playing to intermix and work together. I think the message in the world of golf is really that people are coming from all different countries and all different areas and all different parts of the world and while we want to compete very toughly against each other and we all want to win, at the end of the day we're going to shake each other's hands and have a beer and talk about the day and hopefully reward the winner and give or receive congratulations in the spirit intended.."

Furyk has also been reported as saying: "There is a different kind of pressure (in the President Cup). We're all used to people watching us on TV and even a select few pulling for us on TV. Now we have a whole country pulling for us which is a warm feeling. As far as your teammates, I think a lot of the young guys and a lot of the first-timers have to get used to the fact that the other 11 teammates shouldn't add pressure to you, they should add calmness. Those guys are rooting for you, they're pulling for you and they can pick up some of the slack if you hit a bad shot."

Robert Allenby  (4-10-0):  "I think it's pretty cool. All 24 of us - from both teams - know how we've performed against each other. They (Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus) have gone head-to-head so many times and for them to come out and be the captains of the two teams, I think it's pretty neat. You know they hate to lose - but at the same time there's 24 other guys who hate to lose, as well. We're all out there to give it our best shot no matter who we are or what we do. I know for myself personally, I'll be 110 percent on every shot and everything I'll be trying to give the team as much encouragement as possible. That's what it's all about."

Justin Leonard  (1-6-1)  "I think one of the things I've had to learn is that if you go out and play poorly in a match, you've got to be ready to play the next match. It's like, there'll be five tournaments mixed into four days. Even if you're down a little bit, you've got to suck it up and get back into it. You've got to put a loss or a tie behind you and go out and try to win your next match."

Nick Price  (6-9-4)  "South Africa is one of the most beautiful, diverse countries you'll ever go to. We've got the most beautiful coastline, and it just so happens Fancourt is right on one of the best parts of it. It probably has some of the best views of any golf course that we have in South Africa. It's just a wonderful country, weather-wise. The people are so warm and friendly. I know that they are waiting with baited breath for The Presidents Cup to happen. This is a huge spectacle. It's going to be a great event for South Africa."

Price also said, "When the opportunity arose back in (1994) for the first Presidents Cup, I was so excited, and I think as the years have progressed, the morale and the confidence of the International Team has grown. That's one thing I look forward to so much. I mean, there's not too many occasions when you see a guy finish his match and run back three holes to watch his fellow teammate come in, and pull for him. That's probably the greatest thing about the Presidents Cup for me."

Chris DiMarco  (No record)  "To play for your country, to play for Nicklaus, it can't get any better than that. I'm a pretty emotional guy, so I'm going to try to show a lot of that over there and really have a good time doing it."

David Toms  (No record) "I want to perform well to prove that I'm deserving of the honor of being on the team to represent my country and also my fellow teammates. That's the thing in international competition; you have those teammates to finally root you on and you get to pull for them. I mean, we're out here each week beating each others' brains out, or at least trying to, and then all of a sudden we're part of a team. We just don't get that very much in golf so to me, that adds a lot of excitement to it."

Fred Funk  (No record)  "They (the captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player) both want the spirit of competition and the spirit of the game carried through those two matches - not the intensity of the war of the shore or anything like that. It's just friendly competition and yet intense competition. They just want the game of golf to benefit from this."