On the surface, Norman faces more difficult decision

text size

Franklin/Getty Images

Thongchai Jaidee has two wins this year on the European Tour.

I wouldn't want to be Greg Norman Tuesday morning. Actually, that isn't necessarily true but I wouldn't want to have to make the decision that he has facing him. Norman has to pick two players to fill out the International Team for the upcoming Presidents Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco in four weeks.

Related

Maginnes column archive
Post a reaction on FanZone

By contrast it seems like Fred Couples' decision was made a long time ago. After all, waiting in the wings are two young players with whose selection no one could argue. The reigning U.S. Open Champion, Lucas Glover finished just outside the top 10 in points and is still playing solid golf. He contended at the PGA Championship, eventually finishing fifth, and will be a welcome addition to the team and in the locker room.

Hunter Mahan has been a consistent performer all year and has shown that he is a solid team player, as well. He was on the winning Ryder Cup team a year ago and the winning Presidents Cup team in Montreal two years ago.

As simple as the selection process seems for Couples the question facing Norman is decidedly different. There has been a precedent set by his predecessor to think a little outside the box. Gary Player gave the nod to an unknown Trevor Immelman in 2005 and it proved to be an overwhelming success. Immelman won the Western Open the next year and carried that momentum to the Champions Dinner at Augusta National in 2008.

The safe bet for Norman is to simply go to Nos. 11 and 12 on the list and choose Rory Sabbatini and Jeev Milkha Singh. At least then he could pair Jeev and Vijay Singh together and someone could write some awful play on words in their headline. Something like Singh-Singh handcuff Tiger and Phil. For those of you too young to know, Sing Sing is an old prison in New York.

But there has been talk -- if not real speculation -- that Norman could go way outside the box.

Michael Sim, for instance, has won three times on the Nationwide Tour this year and is actually in the top 25 in points. From the Nationwide Tour to the Presidents Cup in nine months -- talk about a short gestation period for a successful professional career. The fact that Sim is an Aussie gives this conversation even more credibility.

There are several Aussies ahead of Sim on the points list who finished just outside the top 10. Adam Scott and Mathew Goggin are 14th and 15th in points, respectively, but one has ascended to that spot while the other has plummeted. Adam's struggles were well-documented early in the season. As his struggles have continued the eyes of the golf world have looked elsewhere.

One of those other stories has been Ryo Ishikawa, the teenage sensation with the fashionable head cover. His driver is sheathed in a miniature likeness of the player. The Japanese prodigy has proven -- at least in his home country -- that he is a world-class player although that success has yet to follow him across the Pacific. He's won two of his last four starts -- including Sunday, finished 20th in points and would certainly draw a tremendous amount of support from the Asian population around San Francisco.

As of now the Far East only has a single representative on the International side, that of PGA champion Y.E. Yang, who is from South Korea. But if Greg Norman is looking east Japan's Shingo Katayama and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand are both ahead of Ishikawa in points. Jaidee has finished fifth Sunday on the European Tour where he already has two wins this year.

Obviously, Norman would love to pick the guys that are playing the best right now to give his team a competitive chance. Unfortunately, there just isn't anybody whose play of late has dictated that they be named to the team other than perhaps a teenager and a Nationwide Tour player.

One thing is certain, no matter who he picks there are going to be questions to answer and criticisms to field. There always are in these situations, unless of course you are Fred Couples.

Former PGA TOUR player John Maginnes is a columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.