Heading into the 2024 Presidents Cup, there appeared to be some real optimism that the International team had a real chance of securing only their second victory in the competition’s history at Royal Montreal.
The list of Presidents Cup results has been fairly painful reading for the Internationals over the years. Since the competition’s inception in 1994, USA have lost just once. Meanwhile, there has been one occasion when the event has ended in a tie.
The 2003 Presidents Cup involved two absolutely stacked teams. Led by Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus, nine of the world’s top 10 players were involved at Fancourt.
USA boasted a 9.5-6.5 lead after the first two days of competition in South Africa. But the Internationals would fight back with a 6-0 session victory heading into the singles.
How Tiger Woods stunned Gary Player before the 2003 Presidents Cup ended in a tie
The visitors would do enough in the singles to force a 17-17 tie, with Davis Love III actually blowing a brilliant chance to win the match outright in the bottom game. With that, Player and Nicklaus announced that it would be Ernie Els and Tiger Woods battling it out in a play-off to decide the victor.
It was on the third play-off hole, with the light fading fast, that Els seemed to have one hand on the trophy, with Woods facing a brutal 18 feet putt to probably extend the match. And it was at that moment, Player thought that the Internationals were on the verge of victory.
“I said to one of my team, I said, ‘we’ve won. We’ve won’. I know Ernie’s going to hole this putt uphill. Tiger’s was impossible. Well, as always, he dropped it right in the middle,” he said.
Remarkably, there seemed to be a question mark over whether the match would continue, with both sides suddenly negotiating the final result. According to the rules, USA would have retained the trophy had a tie been declared at that stage – prompting Player to urge his team to head to the next tee and continue.
How Jack Nicklaus felt about the Presidents Cup ending in a tie
Nicklaus’ proposal however, to instead share the cup ended the brief stalemate. And speaking to the PGA Tour the following year, the 18-time major champion explained what the event meant to him.
“It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about the game, it’s about the world of golf. It was the most thrilling event I’ve ever been involved in,” he said.
When the 2003 event took place, few would have ever imagined that the next 10 Presidents Cups would all go the way of the Americans, with the scoreline proving to be close on just two occasions.
The Internationals have suffered for not having the quality they boasted in 2003 when Els, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen and Mike Weir amongst the world’s best. Of course, LIV Golf has also really hurt the International team in the last two events.
With that, it is probably fair to say that the event potentially needs something which resembles the drama of 2003 before too long.
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