Another dominant USA win could doom Presidents Cup

US fans of the Presidents Cup may want to root for an upset in Korea this week or this could be the final edition of the every-other-year Ryder Cup-style contest that pits the Americans against the non-European Internationals.

With the US entering the competition with an 8-1-1 record that’s even more lopsided than it sounds, International captain Nick Price strongly suggested on Tuesday that another win by this year’s visitors could spell the end of the event.

“Some of the veterans who have played in numerous Presidents Cups, they have had a tough time in the past I think, certainly at Muirfield, getting them motivated, because it’s been a bit one-sided,” Price told reporters ahead of Thursday’s kickoff at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, South Korea. “The Presidents Cup needs more excitement, it needs to be more closely contested.”

Price bolstered his remarks by noting the importance of the 2015 clash.

“This is a really important Presidents Cup,” Price told Rex Hoggard. “I’m not going to say ‘what if,’ but this better be closely contested. I’ll let you guys figure out the repercussions.”

A change that trimmed 34 matches to 30 may help the Internationals, though Price would have preferred that PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, who runs the tournament, had cut it to 28. While he contends that fewer matches supports more strategy, the Americans believe it’s a way for the shakier unit not to have to play its lesser members.

The Americans have prevailed in the last five tilts by at least three points. With no Euro-like “Miracle at Medinah” comeback in the five matches since the two squads played to a 17-17 tie in 2003, the home team took a six-point lead into Sunday singles at Muirfield Village in 2013 and celebrated with an 18.5-15.5 triumph.

Whether home or away, the US has won laughers by the following margins of victory:

Such a “rivalry” smacks of the one fabricated by the media and fans of the Patriots and its New York AFC opponent. In the case of the Prez Cup, there’s not even a pumped-up animosity between the players from each side as there is between the four-time Super Bowl champion New England and the woeful J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets.

In fact, the U.S.-International encounters have been so one-sided that Tiger Woods -- who owns a paltry 13-17-3 record in Ryder Cup competition -- sewed up his team’s W in each of the last three meetings.

With such an unbalanced record entering this week, Price hinted at dire consequences if his team failed to mount at least a challenge.

“It’s hard for these guys,” Price told Hoggard, speaking generically of the International team that includes second-ranked Jason Day and just four other players within the top 30 in the world to the Americans’ 10.

“You ask these guys to give up a week and to play in an event that is not competitive,” added Price. “Any one of these guys can go play anywhere around the world and receive money and they can easily dump this event if they wanted to. Most of them don’t want to do that.”

Day agreed that a competitive week was critical if the Presidents Cup is to survive.

“This is a huge deal for us right now,” Day told Hoggard. “If it doesn’t happen and we keep losing guys won’t get interested in it and won’t want to play in it and won’t want to travel. I’m here for the captain and for the guys. We would like to win one. No one likes losing.”

Price did not threaten to take his Pro V1s and go home if his guys didn’t win this time. He opined, though, that the matches had to be close enough to make a possible shootout between Day and No. 1 Jordan Spieth in Sunday’s finale worth watching -- for those in the U.S. willing to tune in on the proceedings into the wee hours of the morning.

“Could you imagine how great that would be for the Presidents Cup?” Price, who played on the Internationals’ only winning team and went 8-11-4 in his years as a player, mused to Dave Shedloski. “The absolute perfect scenario would be Jordan and Jason playing in the final group coming down the 18th hole with the whole thing tied up.”

Price made it clear that he was not complaining about not winning but about the viability of the Presidents Cup.

“This is about the long-term health of the Presidents Cup going forward,” he told Hoggard. “If this is going to survive and grow, it could blow the Ryder Cup out of the water if it becomes exciting and competitive. It’s about making this the very best it can be.”

As for the potential fallout from another inequitable outcome, Price reiterated his main point.

“This is a very, very, very important Presidents Cup,” he said.