Presidents 42, 43, 44 Put The Presidents In The Presidents Cup

Given the current climate there was no more welcome sight than three former Presidents turning up at The Presidents Cup first tee. Shoot, they could have strutted in Travolta/Stayin' Alive style and no one would have blamed former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

NBC's Willie Geist hosted the first tee festivities that also included appearances by the PGA Tour's three living Commissioners, Deane Beman, Tim Finchem and Jay Monahan.

But there was only one big three on property and given that this was a first for the Cup, a historic day in the history of great "gets".

Doug Ferguson's AP story on the 2017 kick off.

Will Gray on the strategy discussions President Clinton enjoyed with Tiger and friends.

Kevin Casey with a roundup of social posts from the first tee.

Phil Mickelson took his first selfie with the Presidents. Brother Tim Mickelson posted it to Instagram:

Phil’s first selfie. Almost cropped himself out. Come on man!!!

A post shared by Tim Mickelson (@timmick29) on Sep 28, 2017 at 10:09am PDT

It's a moment those of us lucky enough to cover the game won't forget.

Presidents 42, 43 and 44 @presidentscup first tee Thursday

A post shared by Geoff Shackelford (@geoffshac) on Sep 28, 2017 at 12:05pm PDT

Comments

[TLB]

Thank God the Liar in Chief didn't how up. I know he's been busy getting Puerto Rico straightened out. He now knows it's an Island and surrounded by water.

[Sclaff & Foozle]

Jimmy Carter really doesn't understand the golf thing. Or maybe he built the stands before anybody showed up. Who knows.

[DD4442]

Great photos. Nice to see el presidente's having some fun. What a miserable job. I noticed #44 mad dogged poor Schwartzel into launching his opening tee ball almost off the course to the right. Had to be some mad twitchiness in that swing. Great event, course looks terrific. Pulling for good golf, no matter the outcome.

[digsouth]

Great to see. O rockin' the shades, Bill with a blonde behind him on pix#2, and i think her hand is on his neck. W just looks dazed.

FWIW, I know this course gets knocked but it is SPECTACULAR, with Lady Liberty and DT Manhattan in the background. Awesome looking greens and fairways, and the tree work is exceptional for such a new course. I am actually wishing i could be there, Geoff. Rootting a bit for both sides, I might have to keep my cheers in check, but the shotmaking i have seen (not much yet) has been pretty good, and everyone on the course seems to be very pleasant.

I really believe doofus donnie, could cloud up this wonderful gathering by showing up Sunday. Let's hope he stays away, maybe takes in a football game....

dig

[Original AG]

Nice.

[Ole Tom Morris]

@TBL, he was there, his name is Barack Obama

[Jeff]

Tired act Old Tom
freshen up your material

[PG]

http://golfweek.com/2017/09/28/presidents-cup-telecast-from-n-j-did-not-leave-viewers-in-n-y-state-of-mind/

[pasaplayer]

+1 Jeff.

[TLB]

Ole(d) Tom, you've been conned!

Gotta say, the visuals of the N.Y. Skyline from the President's Cup have been spectacular. Only thing getting in the way are the grandstands and corp. tents.

[Scott Perez]

Can't wait for Trump to get there.

[Patches O'Houlihan]

What are we talking about here? A golf course (or tournament) should be political neutral. It's a refuge. I play enjoyable rounds with plenty of people I disagree with A to Z on politics. Most of us probably do.

It's the President's Cup. Trump should show if he wants to. The only negative in the golf sense is the non-golf media. They would be the distraction showing up en masse. So Trump could show a little savoir faire here if he could maybe chopper in from Bedminster at the last minute and leave the non-golf media stuck in traffic.

[OWGR Fan]

It likely won't get mentioned here otherwise but a great 59 today (with a bogey) for Sam Saunders at the Web.com finals. Birdied his last 6 holes for the 59. Well done Sam!

[ajlfour]

The Star-Spangled Banner was played today prior to the first shot. Somehow. Somehow the coverage here fascinated with marching America towards the Cuban style oppression gold standard missed what happened. When everyone at the golf course had a perfect opportunity to sit on their ass and/or drop a deuce in the locker room? Three former POTUS-es showed class/respect for the national anthem & the American Flag. In other words, the America loving Clinton, Bush, & Obama stood for the American flag with their hand over heart. Just like all the other deplorables trying to divide our country

[A]

In four years, do you expect a cool picture like that from the 4 ex presidents? No.

[MC]

I thought the coverage was absolute garbage from the Golf Channel yesterday. They showed one or two golf shots - then an interview, then a commercial break.

Almost every GD shot yesterday was lead off with "Just a moment ago" or "While we were in commercial". What the heck, there are only 5 matches on the course!

Even worse, at the very beginning when JT and Ricky were on the 2nd hole, Ricky hit is drive left. They then cut away for more Jimmy Roberts interviews and montages and then commercials - and then the next thing you know, they are saying how JT is hitting 4 from the fairway. WHAT? And no explanation. That went on all day.

[Lateral Hazard]

@ajlfour- North Korea has defeated Cuba 10 and 8 in oppression.

[MJR]

Almost cringed hitting this comment link as I assumed it would be non stop bomb throwing. I was pleased it was not too bad. Again, I am as political as they come, and this site is my one refuge from it. I am just not interested in that stuff, and frankly, kudos to much of golf and its analysts to not wade in.

I'm with MC. The coverage was terrible. Very little live. They cannot seem to get the moving to action right, which is painful to experience. Honestly, I am not sure why they think going to Jimmy Roberts for puff interviews on a Thursday when everyone is there to watch golf is a good idea.

NBC strikes me like any other big company: Groupthink, the guy/girl with the best powerpoint and least innovation gets ahead. Product becomes stale and they lose customers. Everyone keeps getting paid well, until they don't. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[D. maculata]

Good analysis by MC and MJR. I'm not thrilled about the venue, specifically the number of water hazards in play. A full-field medal play event is one thing but in this format, it does nothing but kill excitement before the hole is completed.

[digsouth]

OWGR...
Saunders is on FIRE again today! I'm watching slightly behind the telecast and he has 19 birdies thru 30 holes total! 6 more holes to play. Doggone good stuff.

D Mac
The water taking one team out of play really does diminish the competition. I became more aware as I watched longer, and I still have 9 holes to FF thru!

MC, MJR
It would seem they are trying to bait casual viewers into the Pomp and Pizzaz of the event- but it is on TGC and on Thursday, so the only viewers are the hardcore golf fans: they would do better with a 30 minute lead in on Saturday and Sunday to rope in the casual viewer.
The WTF happened skipping of shots has long been a problem with producers and directors of televised golf. You would think they would figure out people want to see the shit shots along with the wowser stuff. But they miss the boat time an time again.

Funny takes: International ball hits red stake and goes n water: USA ball bounces over same red stake by a .... hair and is safe.

dig

[munihack]

@MC
I agree on the coverage. Online at least gives you shot link info so you can see how each hole played out. GC was especially random in the shots they showed resulting in little continuity. The wind made the actual golf pretty challenging and on many holes par was a good score. But GC tried too hard to make it a variety show instead letting the golf tell the story.

[FC]

You're all watching it. That's what counts.

[nancy]

@FC...yes we are watching. I wish I could be there...I'm here iin NU just a few miles away. It's fantastic. Loving that the real "presidents" showed up and Phil's bad selfie was great. Wonder what will happen when Trump shows up on Sunday? That will be a great article from Geoff!

[FC]

nancy, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Re NBC coverage, a nice segment on immigration this Saturday morning. Good on them, and reason for The Don to stay away.