FanHouse RyoIshikawa

The Presidents Cup is a month away, and Tuesday the teams were announced. It's a welcome break from the FedEx Cup excitement. (To be fair, this year's event has been infinitely more interesting than it was in 2007 or 2008 but still, it's hard to get too worked up about manufactured drama. Well, unless it's wrestling.)

In any event, the International captain, Greg Norman, and the American captain, Fred Couples, were joined by PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem in Washington, DC to name their selections during a televised press conference.

The captains' picks (as well as their comments from the presser -- beware, there's a lot of excitement) are after the jump:

A year ago, Greg Norman finished third at the British Open after leading the tournament through 54 holes. He then earned a top-5 finish at the Senior British Open the following week.

His out-of-nowhere showing at Royal Birkdale was enough for the PGA Championship to extend him an invitation. Partly because of his performance in Europe, but also because Tiger Woods was rehabbing a bum knee and Norman could help counter floundering television ratings.

He ultimately declined, Padraig Harrington went on to win his second major in as many months, and ratings were predictably awful.

Tiger Woods tees off at 4:09 AM ET (9:09 AM local) on Thursday, which means he'll be wrapping up his opening round at the Open Championship roughly around the time most of the working stiffs on the East Coast settle into their desks.

He'll play with Britain's Lee Westwood and Japan's Ryo Ishikawa the first two rounds, which, depending on your perspective, could make for an exciting or torturous 36 holes. Almost certainly exciting for the oversized and overzealous galleries, something much less than that for the players. But it's not just Woods' presence that could prove distracting.

Tiger Woods has a history of slow starts at the Masters. In 1997, his first trip to Augusta National as a professional, he fired an opening-round 70 that included a front-nine 40. He won by 12 shots.

In Round 1, we've already seen birdies and bogeys, and we've even tested out the Masters Extra coverage of Amen Corner (as well as some other holes). But now, with play underway and on TV, it's time to fire up our Masters live chat.

We will be following Tiger Woods' first round and we'll also get the treat of watching Anthony Kim, Rory McIlroy and Ryo Ishikawa play together in the final grouping of the day.

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Sebastian Junger wrote a non-fiction book about a 1991 Halloween Nor'easter that was, as you probably know, known as "The Perfect Storm". Play just started at Augusta National in the 2009 Masters (the gentleman above starts his day at 1:52 PM ET), but the story lines are quickly adding up to what could quickly become a Perfect Storm at Augusta. In fact, could the story lines at this year's Masters make it the most memorable Masters ever? Let's dive in.

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Goosen Breaks Four-Year Drought -- When Retief Goosen first burst on the scene with his '01 U.S. Open victory, he was an unknown golfer to most anyone. But unlike the regular U.S. Open one-and-done scoreboard Cinderellas, Goosen had a different look. Southern Hills Country Club, one of the toughest tests in golf, just didn't seem to rattle the Goose. Everyone kept waiting for him to falter. He wouldn't.

Up until the 18th hole, that is, when two putts were all he needed for his first PGA Tour victory and an unprecedented major championship. When he blew it, needing an 18-hole playoff to win, "Rattled" and "Goosen" almost became synonymous.

On Sunday at the 2009 Transitions Championship, a golf tournament lost in the shuffle of all the madness of March, Goosen found himself in an eerily similar situation.

Every Monday during the PGA Tour season, Monday Pin Placement will run as a wrap-up of the weekend's action. Basically, we'll focus on what you may have missed while you were out grinding on the putting green.

Mickelson Wins, Tiger's Back In -- To all but the most die-hard of golf fans who are above hero worship and basic story-lines, there are two golfers that are sure to grab your attention every time they set foot on the course: Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson (seen here in June of 2008).

So far, 2009 has not been Phil Mickelson's year. Lefty has played in three tournaments, missing the cut in one and making just over $30,000 combined in the other two, putting him a measly 136th on the FedEx Cup points list.

What is the best way to break out of a nasty slump? Play, and play well, at a tournament you won the year before.

Right as this story goes live, Ryo Ishikawa (pronounced "Yo") will be hitting his first tee shot on the PGA Tour at this weekend's Northern Trust Open (leaderboard). Why should you care?

Because the 17-year-old Japanese phenomenon is Tiger Woods meets Michelle Wie meets Yao Ming.