The Presidents Cup is set for Melbourne in November with the USA and International teams to be decided later in the year. But a quick look at the current standings shows one glaring omission: international team captain Greg Norman is yet to choose his second assistant.
Given the USA team have Michael Jordan, may I make a crazy suggestion – Shane Warne.
Aside from choosing the match-ups I don’t really know what the captain does, let alone a captain’s assistant.
Fred Couples chose Jordan as captain’s assistant for the 2009 Presidents Cup in San Francisco and he will be back in the same role in Melbourne this November.
It is hard to know exactly what Jordan actually does for the USA, but his mere presence does bring with him an extra level of greatness to the team which also creates more public interest in the event.
Norman should perhaps consider Warne for the role in the international team, or should at least grant him an interview. I don’t think there is anything Jordan can do as a captain’s assistant that Warnie can’t. Both legends love the game of golf, and there are a number of categories where Warnie matches up well with MJ:
1. Cigars.
You’ve got to hand this one to MJ, but Warnie has been doing his best lately. He has been seen sucking on a stogie in several pro-am events over the summer – perhaps in preparation for the captain’s assistant position. He should be able to match it with Jordan, and it would be nice to have an assistant captain capable of counteracting this nasty habit for the international team.
2. Poker.
Michael Jordan spends most nights with a few chips in front of him and Warne fancies himself as a pretty good poker player, too. I’m assuming Jordan raises a little higher than Warne, but he can probably show MJ where the high roller tables are at the Crown Casino without too much trouble.
3. A penchant for the ladies.
Both these guys have some sort of kavorka going on (aside from lots of money), but perhaps Jordan has been a little more discreet about it over the years. It is hard to know whether this will bolster female interest in the Presidents Cup or turn them away.
Either way, Warne can hold his own against Jordan in this category. It would be nice to see Liz Hurley floating around the fairways of Royal Melbourne, too.
4. Player rapport.
Michael Jordan seems to have built up a good relationship with the USA players. Anthony Kim is a massive basketball fan so those high-fives were always going to happen. It is also no secret MJ spent many a night with Tiger Woods playing poker among other things.
Warnie, though, did also seem pretty buddy-buddy with Woodsy last year, too. He relieved any pre-tournament tension with Tiger after a few wise cracks at the pre-Masters gala dinner.
A few of the Aussies on the team may be keen to see Warne around the place, but I’m not too sure how it would go down with the South Africans. Camilo Villegas would barely know what cricket is.
5. Mobile phones.
Warnie has this one over Jordan. As hard as MJ can try, he will never beat the fat-fingered Warne in a texting match-up. Warne can text, leave voice messages or tweet the wrong thing without even trying.
This will surely be great publicity for the Presidents Cup when Warnie fires off a few regrettable text messages and tweets before fronting the press to apologise before the first shot is even made.
C’mon Greg, give him a go!
"It looked like it was gonna go for miles - and then it went nowhere!"
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