Associated Press
Saturday, June 3

POTOMAC, Md. -- Ken Venturi, the U.S. Presidents Cup captain, is rooting to Fred Couples to make the team.

Venturi spent Wednesday taking a good look at the Robert Trent Jones course in Gainesville, Va., about an hour's drive from the site of the Kemper Insurance Open. The Presidents Cup will be played at RTJ on Oct. 20-22.

On Saturday, Venturi shared his thoughts on team selection. Ten of his 12 players are chosen by a points system, while the captain gets to pick the last two. He said he's not automatically going to take the players ranked 11th and 12th.

"I'm looking for certain players that are down to come back up that are good leaders, good in competition and have had good success in the Presidents Cup," Venturi said. "They know RTJ. There's a lot of things in there I'm looking for, so I'm not etched in stone where I'm going to take anybody.

"It's not necessarily 11 and 12. If you see someone coming in from 24 and 25 and going up to 19, 15, this guy's got momentum. You want someone who's on a roll."

Sounds like a reference to Couples, who has played in all three Presidents Cup tournaments but is currently ranked No. 36 in the points standings.

"To me, Freddie is Mr. Presidents Cup of RTJ," Venturi said. "The two times we were there, he was spectacular. He's a good leader, he's well respected."

However, Venturi said Couples or any other players would need to be in the top 20 to be realistically considered.

On another note, Venturi said he had spoken with International team captain Peter Thompson about players' behavior following the breech-of-etiquette celebration on the green during the U.S. victory in the Ryder Cup last year.

"I will allow everybody to run out onto the green at the 18th hole if it's the last putt and the Americans win -- no play behind, nowhere to go, be my guest," Venturi said. "But that's the only time. And Peter Thompson goes right along with me. We have to respect the competition."