The Presidents Cup Was Built in Four Months and Fred Couples Gave It a Finish
The PGA Tour rushed its new match-play event into existence in 1994. A 5-0 American opening and one bunker shot on Sunday supplied its first memory.
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Before the Presidents Cup had a record book, it had a deadline.
The PGA Tour’s Tournament Policy Board gave the event its final go-ahead in March 1994. The first match was played that September at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Virginia. Later, commissioner Tim Finchem put the interval more bluntly: “From the time we actually pulled the trigger on it until we played it was four months.”
What arrived was already dressed like an institution. Former President Gerald Ford served as honorary chairman. Byron Nelson was honorary starter. The trophy came from Tiffany & Co. Hale Irwin captained the United States and also played. David Graham led an International Team made up of players from outside the United States and Europe.
The event still had to prove that all of that ceremony could produce a competition worth remembering.
The Idea Had No Time to Idle
The opening appeared after the 1993 Ryder Cup. Foreign players on the PGA Tour who were not eligible for that event wanted a comparable team match. Then-commissioner Deane Beman and Finchem began examining the idea. International Management Group was pursuing a televised Hemispheres Cup that would have matched an international side against the Ryder Cup winner.
The PGA Tour moved first. A preliminary concept won approval in December 1993, and the board committed to the inaugural week at Doral three months later. CBS had also lost its National Football League package to Fox, leaving fall weekend hours to fill. Competition, television inventory and a willing venue converged. Tournament director Henry Hughes and his staff had less than six months to make the event work.
Robert Trent Jones Golf Club was only four years old and had never staged an event of this size. It sat about 35 miles from Washington and played 7,239 yards at par 72. Organizers reduced expected daily crowds from 18,000 to 20,000 to a range of 13,000 to 15,000. Traffic, parking and gallery movement were still live questions when tournament week began.
Irwin Sent All Five Pairings at the First Green
Fog delayed the ceremonial opening and left PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem waiting for the new event’s first official shot. Irwin had already decided how the United States would begin. Each four-ball pairing included a long hitter under orders to drive at the green on the short dogleg first hole. All five teams reached the area around the putting surface. The session ended 5-0.
The clean score concealed some disorder on the other side. Greg Norman withdrew because of illness and Bradley Hughes replaced him. Ernie Els chose to play in Europe. The International Team was new in every sense, from its eligibility to the partnerships Graham had to assemble.
The afternoon foursomes split 2½-2½, leaving the Americans ahead 7½-2½. The Internationals answered Saturday morning by winning the four-ball session 3½-1½. The United States took the afternoon foursomes 3-2 and carried a 12-8 lead into singles. The deficit was substantial, but the match was not finished.
Sunday Refused to Follow the Score
The International Team needed nine singles victories. The United States needed five. Early American wins by Jay Haas, Jim Gallagher Jr. and Irwin pushed the total to 15. Jeff Maggert then secured at least a tie by defeating Bradley Hughes, 2 and 1. After that, the board tightened.
Eight of the 12 singles matches reached at least the 18th hole. Four had moved into sudden death before the deciding point arrived. Fred Couples, unbeaten in two previous appearances that week, was 3 down to Nick Price after 11 holes. He erased the deficit and came to the last all square.
His drive found a fairway bunker. From 147 yards, Couples struck a 9-iron onto the back slope of the green. The ball turned toward the hole and stopped about 18 inches away. Price nearly holed a 25-foot chip that would have extended the match, but it missed. The conceded birdie gave Couples a 1-up win and the United States its clinching 17th point.
The final margin became 20-12 after the remaining matches were completed or halved. That score has always made the week look easier than it felt. International captain David Graham said, “I don’t think the numbers tell you how really close the matches were.” The evidence was on the course: two-thirds of the singles matches needed the final hole or more.
Captains Chose Their Opponents
The first Presidents Cup did not use the Ryder Cup’s blind draw. Irwin and Graham alternated announcing a pairing and choosing the opposition, making the captains part of every matchup. Four-ball, foursomes and singles supplied the competition, while Gerald Ford’s role as honorary chairman and a Tiffany trophy connected the new event to Washington. Eight of the 12 Sunday singles matches reached at least the 18th hole, and four moved into sudden death before Couples clinched the Cup.
Irwin finished 2-1-0 as a playing captain. Davis Love III led the U.S. scoring with a 4-0-1 record, while Couples went 3-0-0. The opening sweep supplied control of the match. Couples supplied the image that survived it.
The International Team finally broke through Saturday morning, taking the session 3½-1½. It still went to Sunday down 12-8, with nine singles victories required to win the Cup. The Americans won eight of the 12 matches and finished the week with a 20-12 victory. The 2026 match at Medinah begins with the United States holding a 13-1-1 series record.
Couples’ 9-Iron Ends It
On Sunday, Couples and Nick Price reached the 18th all square. Couples found a fairway bunker, 147 yards from the hole. Price was the world’s No. 1 player, and four other matches had already gone beyond 18.
Couples hit a 9-iron into the back slope of the green. The ball funneled toward the flag and stopped 18 inches away. Price conceded the birdie. Couples won 1 up, and the first Presidents Cup belonged to the United States.