Every golf fan should be rooting for the Internationals this week at the Presidents Cup
The problem is, this year shouldn't be about your love of country, red, white and blue, or anything that has to do with the United States. This year is simply about saving an event that is fading quickly into obscurity.
No matter what part of the world you're from, or what team you like better, golf fans should root for the Internationals, plain and simple.
There really isn't any other option.
Americans that love their country might think this is a complete joke, screaming in the comments, "Why in the world is this idiot telling me to root for a team playing against MY country," but it's a short term change in hopes of keeping an event around that has the potential to be great.
If you're wondering why it's the Internationals that deserve your support, simply look at the numbers.
In nine matches, the Internationals have won this event just once, back in 1998 in an event contested halfway across the world that few, if any, Americans got to see live. That event was dominated by the Internationals, but it was a long time ago and the United States has been incredible since then, going 7-1-1 in this event since it began.
This week reminds me of what the Ryder Cup had become in the mid-80s, a biyearly event where the Americans showed up, played some golf and left with the trophy. Before the 1985 matches at The Belfry in England, the United States had won 13 straight Ryder Cups, making this event more of a yawn fest than a competitive golf tournament.
In '85 the entire Cup changed, and from then on it has been a battle between Europe and the United States that some golf fans say is their favorite week of the entire golf calendar.
The Presidents Cup needs an International team to come slug the Americans in the face, especially one with the resume that this 2013 team has. Nick Price brings seven rookies to Muirfield Village, a ridiculous number considering how many great players we've seen over the years from Japan, South Africa and Australia.
This team is the underdog of underdogs, going up against an American team that saw every member make it to the field of just 30 golfers at the Tour Championship and is completely outmatched if you look at the seasons of each team (the only player on the Internationals that even has ONE PGA Tour win in '13 is Adam Scott).
This event is going to lose steam and fast if the Internationals keep getting pounded every time these teams match up.
The reason the Ryder Cup is so much more exciting isn't because it has been around longer, it's because for three days we get to watch an incredible fight between teams that genuinely want to beat each other. Do you think if Europe and the U.S. had ended in a tie* like the Presidents Cup did in '03 that the captains would have just shook hands after a few extra holes and called it a tie? Of course not, because these teams are villains for three days of golf battle.
* - I understand the Ryder Cup has a policy that won't allow a tie if the numbers end up equal, but even if that rule was abolished no captains would settle for a handshake and a push in that event.
The Internationals need this week. They need to come out and beat the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and the merry gang of Keegan, Dufner and Kuchar. This team needs to get on the backs of Adam Scott and Ernie Els and ride the youthful talent of Hideki Matsuyama and Jason Day to a Cup victory, not for their respective countries, but for this event itself.
The Presidents Cup doesn't just need the United States to fall on their home soil, they must have it, or 2015 could see an event that barely gets a look from sports fans around the world.
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