Nick Price Would Repeat; Fred Couples Said He's Done; Team Friendships Created

Another President's Cup is in the books.

Fred Couples swears this is his last one. Yet the members of his teams love him. He thinks he’s too old to do this again, and said there are other people in line. 

“The guys were asking me what time the bus was, just to mess with me,” Couples said. “’Cause they know I don’t know.”

He tells them his job is to keep them relaxed, not worry about what time the bus leaves. That’s why they love Fred Couples. He doesn’t sweat the small stuff, but he admitted he does get nervous.

“You’re nervous, not for the players, the players know what they are doing,” Couples said about what looks like a calm demeanor. “At no given time was I a nervous wreck, but it was nice when Tiger two-putted that last green to get the 18th point.”

Nick Price, International team captain, would love to captain another one, no matter where it is.

“For all of us here, we have played 95 percent of our golf outside of our home countries,” Nick Price said. “To come together as a team like this, against the might of America, this was an extremely strong team, and I’m just so proud of them.”

Yes, there are some changes he would like to see, but he doesn’t want to talk about that now. He’ll bring it up with PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem.

“The last 14, 15 months, getting to know all of these guys, going to some of the tournaments and meeting them and spending time with them. It’s been an absolute privilege,” Price added.

In terms of how their captains did, members of both teams had praise for the competition.

“I’ve been playing this since the early 90s with Pricey and the guys,” Ernie Els said. “It’s great to see these youngsters be so excited. It’s a great experience, through and through. Every year has been wonderful.”

“Our main goal was to win, and it’s slightly disappointing, but the friendships and bonds that we’ve made over the last week, we’ll carry on for a lifetime,” Graham DeLaet said.

Phil Mickelson, a veteran of many team contests, had similar thoughts.

“Over the course of my career, these weeks become some of the most special weeks of the year and of my career,” he said. “They are where friendships form that last a lifetime and they are the weeks that we look forward to the most.”

Kathy Bissell is a Golf Writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the USGA, PGA Tour or PGA of America.