Mickelson & Furyk; Old Dogs' New Trick

While everyone will be talking about the obvious pairing of Woods/Stricker vs Scott/Choi on Thursday in the opening round of the President's Cup, another pairing should garner a good amount of attention for entirely different reasons. Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk have the distinguished honor of being labeled the 'most experienced' players on the American team, having appeared in a combined 31 President's Cup matches in their careers. What is perhaps even more shocking - at least to me - is the fact that they have never been paired together during that stretch.

In fact, the only time Mickelson and Furyk have played together was at the 1999 Ryder Cup where they lost to Sergio Garcia and Jasper Parnevik.

That streak has come to an end, of course, as American captain Fred Couples will send this seasoned duo out to face the International team pairing of Retief Goosen and Robert Allenby. They will face-off in the fourth match of the day, which many Americans will be able to watch tonight as the Golf Channel broadcasts the event for the first time live in primetime.