was all a misunderstanding. No hard feelings. Leonard said so himself, confirming Goosen's good intentions and blaming only himself for a bad putt that cost his team a point.This was in the opening round of the Presidents Cup.
And if this had taken place in Wales next year at the Ryder Cup? Leonard couldn't contain his laughter.
"You guys," he said to a few reporters, "would have made it a much bigger deal."
It's not a good idea to compare the two cups, even in the aftermath of an impressive U.S. victory. The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup are nothing alike except for the size of the teams (12 players) and the excess of ceremonies and celebrities.
The golf was spectacular at times, and the Americans have rarely looked this strong. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were unbeaten in all five of their matches for the first time in a team competition.
Just don't jump to any conclusions about the Ryder Cup next year. There is no comparison with the cups when it comes to the intensity, scrutiny, pressure and hyperbole. That doesn't make it better, just different.
No one sprayed champagne Sunday afternoon from the clubhouse balcony at Harding Park, and not just because the public course doesn't have a balcony, or even much of a clubhouse.
Woods delivered the cup-clinching point and didn't know it, even after U.S. captain Fred Couples told him.
The Presidents Cup once was described as matches between the United States and an International team from Florida. That's no longer true because two International players have homes in Arizona. And while the Presidents Cup features 24 of the world's best players, all but one of them
-- 18-year-old Ryo Ishikawa of Japan -- is a PGA Tour member.
What makes the Ryder Cup so compelling, beyond its 80 years of history, is the pride of one tour (Europe) and the pressure on another tour (United States).
No one handles the spotlight as well as Woods. No other player in his generation has faced more significant shots. Still, one can't help but wonder if he produces better shots at the Presidents Cup because the matches are more about amity than enmity.
Woods delivered the defining moment of this Presidents Cup when he holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole, then twirled his club and struck a conductor's pose upon hitting 3-iron from 218 yards into 8 feet for an eagle that was conceded, and a stunning foursomes victory in what turned out to be the pivotal match of the week.
Consider his top highlights from the Ryder Cup:
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An eagle putt that he knocked across the green and into the water at Valderrama.
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The pained expression on his face when Mickelson, his partner, hit a tee shot out of play on the 18th hole at Oakland Hills.
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His caddie dropping a 9-iron into the River Liffey during a singles match at The K Club in Ireland.
To suggest that Woods has finally figured out team play is to get carried away with the results of one cup. He didn't care any less before. He didn't try any harder this time.
"I didn't notice any more intensity," Mike Weir said. "He's always like that."
Couples summed it up beautifully earlier in the week when he said the key to getting points from the world's No. 1 player is to give him a partner who contributes, arguing that two-against-one is not a fair fight, even when Woods is involved.
