Webb Who?

Fred Couples is too cool for school.

The quintessential silver fox, Couples speaks slowly and clearly with a soothing drawl that compliments his teak veneer. He may also be slightly too cool for Webb Simpson as he let slip during his press conference on Tuesday that prior to arriving in Victoria he had yet to see one of his form charges in action. That would be the same Webb Simpson that has competed in 87 PGA Tour events in the last three years, made 58 cuts, won twice in the US this year and finished fourth on his country's Presidents Cup points leaderboard.

Having followed him during two practice rounds, BackPageLead has now seen him hit more golf balls than his national captain.

When asked, the rookie was unperturbed, saying, "Fred is an awesome player in his own right but he's not intimidating and he makes all of us, especially the rookies, feel relaxed." I'm sure we'd all feel relaxed at work if our boss was never there to check on us.

DJ lets it all hang out

Freddie's calm assurance is radiating throughout his team, which looks relaxed and unified. The Americans are clearly delighted with the course, with Couples himself elevating the Royal Melbourne alongside Augusta and St Andrews at the pinnacle of world golf.

That it might be, but at either of the other two prestigious venues Dustin Johnson would probably not last as long with his shirt hanging out over his pants as he did on course on Tuesday. The big American's relaxed attire befitted a casual day. Six groups of four ambled around the course, rarely putting, never hitting from the bunkers and only occasionally giving the impression they were taking the thing seriously.

It helped that it was a clear hot day in Melbourne with a lick of breeze enough to keep the green's honest but nowhere near enough to reveal the Hulk lurking beneath the placid exterior. Forecasts suggest Dr Bruce Banner will get mad on Friday.

It's not easy being green

In conditions like Tuesday's practice rounds it is the greens that make Royal Melbourne such a contest for the elite. Measuring 12.8 on the stimpmeter the current surfaces are by no means slow but remain some way behind Greg Norman's preferred pace of 13.5 - 14. The greens, hard and smooth as marble have retained a tinge of brown, indicating there could be more shaving to go and speed to extract before Thursday's tee-off.

U-S-Eh?

The Americans, not normally known for great sporting PR, hit one off the screws on Tuesday. The full crew lined up for their pre-tournament team photo not in red, white, blue - or some star mangled combination of all three - but dinky dye green and gold. Stifling the "Aussie Aussie Aussie's" long enough to hear Couples' explanation, the press tent was told it was his initiative, not just to get the locals on board, but to raise money for charity by auctioning the shirts off at the end of the tournament. If that wasn't enough to sway the heart of anti-American Victorian hack, the AFL would nominate the beneficiary charities. Hook, line and sinker.

He might not know his playing roster, but Freddie sure knows his international audience.

Shark Park

The American team captain might have the press gallery in the palm of his hand but The Great White Shark wasn't going to pass an opportunity to score PR points either. With a delicate push in the right direction he explained how he navigated the team bus from an inner-Melbourne laneway after it got blocked in following the international team's pre-tournament dinner. The highlight was Norman describing how he flagged down an oncoming motorist to create enough space for the bus to reverse into. He seemed taken aback that the prospect of a 6ft man waving his arms about and smiling in the middle of the night might have caused the car driver some distress.

Anniversary of a mutiny

A blast from the past reminded those in attendance that despite the abundance of sponsors, the battalions of media and the glittery bauble on offer, the Presidents Cup is still sport and still matters.

Dual Major winner, David Graham, was selected in 1994 as the inaugural international captain. Preparing to reprise duties in 1996, what can only be described as a mutiny, led by Australian players, resulted in Peter Thomson replacing him at the eleventh hour. The two legends of Australian golf encountered one another outside the Royal Melbourne clubhouse on Tuesday and the welling of Graham's eyes proved that the episode still hurts. Graham has never carried any ill will towards his replacement but stated in a candid 1998 interview that he still carries the pain of that rejection with him, and now barracks for the US.