So, really, why do we care about Tiger?

DUBLIN, Ohio – International captain Nick Price could see the raw disappointment in the eyes of his 21-year-old rookie after Hideki Matsuyama lost his Singles match at the 2013 Presidents Cup to Hunter Mahan. The Japanese prodigy felt like he’d let the International team down but Price wanted to make sure the youngster knew he certainly didn’t feel that way and nor did any of his teammates as they passed at the clubhouse of Muirfield Village. Price knew Matsuyama would be a staple of the International team in the years to come and sensed it was a time to send a message. He turned to Bob Turner – Matsuyama’s confidant and interpreter – and was straight to the point. “His game is so good… he’s going to win majors,” Price said before thanking Matsuyama with a hearty handshake for his efforts. It was a line that would live with Matsuyama from that point on and ultimately come true almost eight years later at the Masters. “At that time it was only a dream to think of winning a major championship but what Captain Nick said really gave me motivation to try to live up to those expectations,” Matsuyama said this week ahead of the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide at the same venue he received the praise. “The 2013 Presidents Cup is a week I’ll always remember. I was so grateful for Captain Nick and Adam Scott as it was those two who really took me under their wings and helped me a lot in my first time on the team. “They were great because I had no clue what to do, or how to do it, and they really paid special attention to me and helped build my confidence. It was unfortunate the team didn’t play a little better but the week will always hold great memories for me and it was important for my confidence going forward.” History shows that the following June, Matsuyama would return to Muirfield Village and win the Memorial Tournament, the first of his now six PGA TOUR wins. He was the youngest champion in tournament history at 22 and the first winner from Japan. It was an incredible rise as when Price was named the 2013 captain in May of 2012, Matsuyama was ranked outside the top 200 players in the world but by the time the team was picked in September of 2013 he’d moved inside the top 30 despite having just six TOUR starts as a pro. But it was a rise Price says was always going to come. The Hall of Famer returned to Muirfield Village this week as the tournament honoree. He remembers the infamous moment well. “I could sense Hideki was starting to get a little down so I was trying to think what’s the best thing I can do or say to pick him up and the first thing that came to mind was I just knew he was going to win a major,” Price said. “If I said that to him I thought it might just break him out of any funk he was in so I said to his interpreter Bob – you tell him he’s one of the best young talents I’ve ever seen and tell him I know he is going to win a major. “And hey, eight years later the prophecy came true but it wasn’t really going out on a limb, we all knew it was going to happen.” Price said he’d formed that opinion prior to the week at Muirfield Village where Matsuyama would go 1-3-1 as a rookie during the US 18.5-15.5 win. He could sense it in tournaments leading up to the event where he walked a handful of practice rounds with prospective team members. “I had obviously stopped playing on the regular TOUR before Hideki surfaced but I remember watching him play when he first popped up as a youngster. It was immediately noticeable that he had a beautiful golf swing and his short game looked amazing,” Price remembered. “When they announced I was going to be captain I obviously started to watch him play in person and I was so impressed with his demeanor. He seemed unflappable. He’s a great young man and I was really happy to have him on all three of my Presidents Cup teams.” And he was cheering Matsuyama home last April, on the edge of his seat watching the finish of the Masters, knowing how big the moment would be in a historical sense. “It was probably the greatest thing to happen in golf for some time,” Price says. “The Japanese have long revered the Masters and to have their first male major champion win there is something very special indeed and great for the International exposure of the game.” Price isn’t done with predictions when it comes to Matsuyama. “I don’t think the Masters is his last major win either,” he says. “Once the dust settles he will be back on the horse and he’s going to be looking for the second one. It won’t surprise me if he wins three, four or even more of them.” Let’s hope Matsuyama also takes this prediction to heart.

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Ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, we patrolled Pebble Beach and took a peek in PGA TOUR pros’ bags to see what the game’s best, and some of this week’s celebrity participants, are playing. In this week’s gallery, we have a look at Charl Schwartzel’s DIY iron modifications, country star Jake Owen’s bag, a few more notable irons and wedges, and a very interesting, presumably homemade, training aid. Charl Schwartzel bought these Miura MB-001 irons online (per Golf.com’s Andrew Tursky) and drilled them out himself to reduce the swing weight. Country singer Jake Owen is a fixture at Pebble Beach (and a single-digit handicap). Here’s a look at his sticks. And when you’re a big-time country star and golf nut, you get the TOUR pro treatment! Case in point: this custom-stamped Cobra King wedge. Also on the wedge front: Keith Mitchell has a custom grind and custom stamping on this “breakthrough proto� wedge. Vokey wedge rep Aaron Dill outdid himself with this one. A glance at longtime Mizuno staffer Luke Donald’s setup as the 42-year-old prepares to take on the three courses of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The lone non-Mizuno club in Donald’s bag is a TaylorMade M6 3-wood. PGA TOUR pros are met with an abundance of equipment options during the practice rounds. Here’s a look at a Bettinardi putter cover bouquet from the practice area. L.A.B. Golf’s putters are always unique, most notably its Directed Force 2.1, which Adam Scott has used on and off. This B.2 is no exception. The flatstick features an eye-catching engraved face. Patrick Martin’s Ping Blueprint irons feature a gold paintfill. Roberto Castro was spotted with one of the more unique (and apparently homemade) training aids you’ll ever see on the PGA TOUR. Safe to say Sam Saunders is a man who prefers the “raw and rusted� look in his Callaway irons and wedges! All photos courtesy of GolfWRX. For more equipment coverage, visit GolfWRX.com.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A week ago, U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Steve Stricker asked Phil Mickelson to show him something. To make a positive statement with his golf game. Stricker wasn’t entirely comfortable with the request. After all, Mickelson has played for his country more times in team competition than any other golfer. Oh, and he’s also won five majors and 42 PGA TOUR events, and already has a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame. But when Mickelson – who has played in every Presidents Cup since its inception in 1994, as well as every Ryder Cup since 1995 — told Stricker he really wanted to make this year’s U.S. team, the captain had no choice but to respond the way he did. Mickelson was 17th on the points list in which just the top 10 automatically qualify. There was work to be done. “I told him I would like to see him play well here on out, to show me something basically,â€� Stricker said. “That doesn’t sound right coming from a guy like me talking to Phil. ‘Hey, show me something.’ That doesn’t sound right. That’s basically what I said. “Show me that you are playing good at the end of the year.â€� Unfortunately for Mickelson, he showed nothing this week in his brief stay at the PGA Championship. He followed Thursday’s 8-over 79 with a 3-over 74 that left him at 11 over. The 153 strokes he needed to complete two rounds is the second-highest total in the 13 major cuts he’s missed in his career. He shot 79-76—155 in the 1999 Open Championship. The good news (if you can call it that) was he made three birdies Friday after failing to make a birdie the previous day. The bad news is he missed the cut at the PGA Championship for the first time since 1995. The worst news is that at a key time of the season, with his U.S. team streak on the line, Mickelson is at a loss for answers. And has lost his focus. “It’s not like I’m hitting the ball crooked,â€� a glum Mickelson said outside the Quail Hollow clubhouse Friday. “I’m just hitting it in the wrong spots. Not really controlling my thought process, where I want the ball to go. “I’m not real focused out there. I’m having a tough time visualizing the shot. I’m having a tough time controlling my thoughts and not letting it wonder to what I don’t want to have happen.â€� That’s not exactly what Stricker wants to hear. Unaware of when Mickelson played on Friday, Stricker was told of the missed cut. “He’s got a couple of events, probably in the FedExCup Playoffs,â€� Stricker said. “That’s all we’re going to have before we make the pick. Hopefully he can get hot in there.â€� Mickelson’s next start with be the FedExCup opener, THE NORTHERN TRUST, which starts Aug. 25 at Glen Oaks. Although Mickelson will likely drop from his current spot of 45th in FedexCup points, he’s guaranteed to advance to the second FedExCup event, the 100-man field at the Dell Technologies Championship. The top 10 players in Presidents Cup points after TPC Boston will earn guaranteed spots. Two days later, Stricker will announce his two captain’s picks. That means Mickelson has two events to climb inside the top 10. Otherwise, his fate – and that string of 23 consecutive years of representing the U.S. – will be left in the hands of others. “If I can play well in those, I have a chance to get on the team on my own,â€� said Mickelson, who won at TPC Boston in the inaugural FedExCup year of 2007. “If I play well in them and don’t make it, I have a chance to be a pick. “But I’ve got to play well in them is the thing.â€� Two years ago, Mickelson needed a captain’s pick from Jay Haas to make the U.S. team. At that time, Mickelson was 30th in Presidents Cup points and had not been particularly impressive in those first two FedExCup events. But he did have a couple of top-20 finishes in the last two majors that year … unlike this year, when he’s missed the cut at The Open and the PGA. It was the first time Mickelson had needed a captain’s pick since 1994, but Haas and his assistants recognized the value of Mickelson’s intangibles, as well as his experience. Mickelson rewarded them by going 3-0-1 and handily beating Charl Schwartzel 5 & 4 in singles to help the Americans retain the Cup. Stricker is well aware of those intangibles. While he has the final decision on the captain’s picks, he plans to have buy-in from his assistants as well as the 10 players who automatically qualify. If Mickelson is not one of those 10, then he must rely on support in the team room. “We need the best guys playing the best at the end of the year going forward,â€� Stricker said. “That’s what we’re going to be looking at. … “I think it’s important to get the whole team vested in those other two players that we’re going to pick.â€� The decisions won’t be easy. Stricker said he’s keeping a close eye on anybody inside the top 20 in Presidents Cup points, and even players beyond that. He specifically mentioned Zach Johnson, who is currently 28th and has played well in his last three starts – including a second-place finish at last week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. Johnson was creeping up the leaderboard Friday afternoon when play was suspended due to weather. “If he can have another good solid run here through the rest of the year, he’s a guy I’m looking at too,â€� Stricker said of Johnson, a four-time Presidents Cup team member – and Mickelson’s partner two years ago in Korea. “Anybody, if they can get hot, we’re all going to give a good look to.â€� Mickelson is not hot. But he will spend next week seeking to regain his focus. “I don’t feel like I did two years ago where I’m searching for my game or I’m trying to find it or trying to strike it well,â€� Mickelson said. “I have great practice sessions. Drove it fine. Just not real focused when I’m out there.â€� So, Mickelson was asked, how does he work on something mental like that? “That’s a good question,â€� he said. “I’ll have to figure it out.â€� Hopefully it’s soon. He’s running out of time.

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