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In keeping with an agreement made before the competition started, captains Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus have set the stage for one of the most mouth-watering showdowns in Presidents Cup history.

Els takes a four-match winning streak into the match while Woods will attempt to finish the week with more wins than losses after winning two and losing two with Charles Howell III over the first three days.

Form over the last few days would point to Els being a clear favourite, but when facing a player of Woods' composure the scales are always tilted out of the opponents favour.

The Captains were united in their excitement ahead of the Els/Woods showdown, believing the match would be "good for golf".

"I think it's fantastic," said Player. I think Everyone would like to see it. I think Tiger would like to see it and Ernie would like to see it. It's great for golf.

"It is great," agreed Nicklaus. "I hope the match is not over before they have finished. I'd like to see it resolved with their match."

First out tomorrow morning will be the fields two major champions of 2003, Masters winner Mike Weir and US Open champ Jim Furyk set to battle it out for first blood.

The majority of interest is bound to be with the Els/Woods clash, but further up the list sees another clash worth watching involving young guns Adam Scott and Charles Howell III.

Captain’s Pairings
Sunday, 24 November 2003
Singles Matches

(US Team) (International Team)
Match 23 – 12h00 - Jim Furyk vs Mike Weir
Match 24 – 12h10 – Jerry Kelly vs Tim Clark
Match 25 – 12h20 – Kenny Perry vs Nick Price
Match 26 – 12h30 – Justin Leonard vs KJ Choi
Match 27 – 12h40 – Charles Howell III vs Adam Scott
Match 28 – 12h50 – Jay Haas vs Stephen Leaney
Match 29 – 13h00 – Phil Mickelson vs Retief Goosen
Match 30 – 13h10 – Fred Funk vs Peter Lonard
Match 31 – 13h20 – Chris DiMarco vs Stuart Appleby
Match 32 – 13h30 – David Toms vs Vijay Singh
Match 33 – 13h40 – Tiger Woods vs Ernie Els
Match 34 – 13h50 – Davis Love III vs Robert Allenby

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