To measure the scope of the Presidents Cup, a suggestion is to travel back in time – 28 years, to be exact – to when this international team golf tournament was introduced.
It was the brainchild of Tim Finchem, back when he was a deputy for PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman. But when Beman handed the reigns over to Finchem early in the summer of 1994, going full throttle on the debut of Presidents Cup consumed him.
The naysayers were lined up, but Finchem was steadfast in his belief that great players from beyond the borders of the United States and Europe deserved to compete on a global stage in an international team match. Should you point to the lopsided results – the Americans are 11-1-1 and have won eight in a row – you would be an egregious point-misser.
The Presidents Cup was about bringing the game a little closer together, because global golf, Finchem insisted, was here to stay. He knew it would be a somewhat awkward fit at first, but he begged for patience and offered a vision that a lot of folk struggled with.
To wit, there would be a day when the world's best players competed in the same tournaments dozens of time per year and American golf fans would know the international stars quite well.
If he were the type to seek the limelight, Finchem could take a bow. But instead, let's take a measurement to indicate how his vision has played out beautifully.
In 1994, half the International Team needed to introduce themselves to their American counterparts at the Robert Trent Jones Club in Gainesville, Virginia. Aussie Bradley Hughes had only played in six PGA Tour tournaments that season, while Mark McNulty of Zimbabwe (five), Peter Senior of Australia (three) and Frank Nobilo of New Zealand (two) attended even fewer. As for Robert Allenby of Australia and Tsukasa Watanabe of Japan, they hadn't played at all.
In all, the 12 International Team members had combined for just 141 PGA Tour tournaments in 1994, which is not an indictment of them whatsoever. It is a reminder of the era, when global traffic was limited to the world's very elite names and, while the Presidents Cup perhaps appealed back then to those who are intrigued by players they know little about, Finchem was convinced the stature of the competition would grow as American fans became educated about the Aussies and South Africans, the South Americans and the Canadians.
"In 20 years," he told reporters back then, "we can have an event of really premier quality."
Critique Finchem's statement as much as you'd like, there is an argument to be made that he's been proven correct. Three of the past five competitions have been close (16-14 in Australia in 2019; a one-point match in South Korea in 2015; a closer-than-it-looks 18.5-15.5 decision at Muirfield Village in 2013), and then there is the familiarity aspect: whereas 28 years ago the 12-man International Team combined for just 141 PGA Tour starts, in 2021-22 the 12 members of this year's Presidents Cup team totalled 282 starts.
That is a growth of 100 per cent, and the difference can be seen up and down the line-up. Eleven of the 12 members of this year's International Team made 20-plus Tour starts this year – Tom Kim appeared in 11 events as he eventually earned his card by the end of the season – while seven of them made 25 starts or more.
Budding stars from Chile (Mito Pereira, 27 starts) and South Korea (Lee Kyoung-hoon, 28) head the list of workhorses. Lee's fellow countryman, Kim Si-woo, will join him in Charlotte for his second Presidents Cup after a team-leading 29 starts this season.
Corey Conners made his first team after a year of admirable consistency, as did fellow Canadian Taylor Pendirth (21 starts). Aussie Cam Davis (25), South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout (24), Colombian Sebastian Munoz (25) and Japanese Hideki Matsuyama (21) also help comprise the roster.
Round out the team with South Korean Im Sung-jae, who with 'only' 26 starts this season is almost slacking off, and you have an International Team that is getting more and more comfortable in the US by the week. That, in turn, is why optimism continues to be an International strong suit.
"We're still talking about 18 holes of match play, and we've got to remember anything can happen in an 18-hole match," Adam Scott told reporters at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in late July.
"Momentum plays a big deal in these things. We saw that at the last one. We kind of got up early and we nearly hung on [to win]."
Veteran that he is, Scott would tell you that even as he and his mates have become more comfortable in the US thanks to a full complement of PGA Tour tournaments, another aspect of this biennial affair continues to make matters difficult.
That is an American team that is constantly deep and consistently young.
How deep? Ten of the 12 players on the US team are ranked in the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and the only two who aren't check in at numbers 22 (Max Homa) and 26 (Kevin Kisner). The team features number one Scottie Scheffler and four others in the first 10 – Patrick Cantlay, number four; Xander Schauffele, number five; Justin Thomas, number seven; and Collin Morikawa, number nine.
How young? Two are just 25 years old (Morikawa and Cameron Young) and five others are in their 20s. As for the 'old' guard, we're talking Cantlay, 30; Max Homa, 31; Tony Finau, 32; and Billy Horschel, 35.
That's deep, that's young, and that's one potent group teeing it up next week at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.
It's an indication that the Americans will likely be heavy favourites to win for a ninth straight time. Then again, being the underdog is news to the Aussies, the South Africans, the Fijians, the Kiwi, the Canadians, the South Americans, the Japanese and the Koreans.
True, they've not yet come up with an answer to this biennial puzzle, but you'd be doing them a massive disservice if you sold them short. The big picture does them justice as you look at the 2021-22 season: four of their players (Matsuyama, Im, Lee and Kim) combined for five wins on the PGA Tour this season.
True, the Americans have bigger numbers (they combined for 18 victories this season), but Finchem's vision has played out as he predicted. International players have established global stature thanks to a high level of play on the PGA Tour and that will be prominently displayed in this year's Presidents Cup.
Focus on the individuals who'll make up the two line-ups, and not the past results, and you'll likely find 15 of the world's top 20 names. As promised more than 20 years ago, the Presidents Cup has reached a level of premier quality.
Rooney, Barry, Crouch? Who are the ultimate Premier League 'Barclaysmen'?
The international window is over, as Premier League football returns this weekend, but the two-week break had supporters reminiscing.
From 2004 to 2016, Barclays was the Premier League's sponsor.
And in a trend that has taken over social media, "Barclaysmen" have been picked out as players synonymous with that 12-year period.
Here, we take a deep dive into Opta data to find out which players were the actual hallmarks of the Barclays Premier League.
410 - Gareth Barry led the way with 410 matches played for Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton between 2004 and 2016 – he is, of course, also the Premier League's all-time record holder for appearances too, with a whopping 653 to his name.
James Milner is set to overtake Barry this season, though, and 369 of his 637 matches came in this 12-year span.
178 - Bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old, Wayne Rooney would go on to become one of the greatest goalscorers the division has ever seen.
Starting his career with Everton, Rooney joined Manchester United in 2004, where he won five league titles during the Barclays era.
In that 12-year span, no player scored more goals than the mercurial forward, who netted 178 times, with his former United club-mate Robin van Persie (144) second, ahead of Chelsea's Frank Lampard (132).
Rooney wasn't just a goalscorer. He also provided 88 assists in this era, taking his total goal contributions tally to 266, 54 more than the next-best, Lampard (212).
1,430 - Naturally, being the top goalscorer from 2004 and 2016, Rooney also tops the rankings for the most shots taken during that period, with 1,430.
Rooney's most prolific season came during the 2011-12 campaign, when he netted 27 Premier League goals, but it wasn't enough to stop rivals Manchester City from lifting their first top-flight title since 1968.
Midfielder Lampard (1,118) is next on the list for shots, with Van Persie (963), Jermain Defoe (939) and Steven Gerrard (919) next.
95 - What about creativity?
When it comes to assists, there were no better in this time span than Cesc Fabregas, who laid on 95 goals across spells at Arsenal and Chelsea.
Interestingly, though, Gerrard (767) led the way for chances created, with Lampard (759) also coming in ahead of Fabregas, though it is worth noting the Spaniard spent time away from the Premier League after leaving Arsenal for Barcelona.
43 - When it comes to headed goals, you won't be surprised to see that six-foot-seven-inch Peter Crouch led the way, with 43.
Crouch represented Aston Villa, Southampton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Spurs and Stoke during the Barclays era, becoming well-known for his lanky frame and ability in the air.
He 'heads' the list by 12 goals to former Everton forward Tim Cahill, who scored 31 goals with his head despite being three inches under six foot.
30 - Having come close to having the most goals in the Barclays era, Lampard tops the list for the most goals scored from outside the box across its 12-year timeframe.
Known for his incredible knack of being in the right place at the right time, Lampard's ability both in and outside the box made him one of the deadliest midfielders the division has ever seen.
Strikes against Norwich City, Fulham and away at Goodison Park are standouts, with the Englishman often finding the back of the net when pulling back his cultured right foot.
11 - While James Ward-Prowse leads the way for the most free-kick goals scored in the Premier League, Sebastian Larsson might just be the true embodiment of a Barclaysman.
The former Arsenal, Birmingham City and Sunderland midfielder scored 11 direct free-kick goals between 2004-05 and 2015-16, one more than five-time Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and Morten Gamst Pederson, who must be another candidate for the ultimate Barclaysman.
That being said, who had the most direct free-kick shots? It wasn't any of the above. Instead, it was Lampard, who tried his luck 173 times, scoring on nine occasions.
486 - Charles N'Zogbia. Remember him?
A star for Wigan Athletic, N'Zogbia completed 486 dribbles during his time in the division. Surprisingly, Glen Johnson, a full-back, was the next best with 481, ahead of Eden Hazard (463).
Remarkably, though, Ronaldo comes in at fifth, and that is despite only playing in five of the Barclays seasons. He completed 449 dribbles in total, an average of 2.7 per game.
1,107 - Jussi Jaaskelainen, the baby-faced Finn, made 1,107 saves in the Barclays era, which puts him ahead of Mark Schwarzer (1,018) and Tim Howard (1,014).
Petr Cech, meanwhile, was the goalkeeper to keep the most clean sheets (178).
48 - Now time for the unlucky statistics during the Barclays era. During his spells with Arsenal and Man United, no one struck the woodwork more than Robin van Persie.
Despite netting 144 goals in his 280 Premier League appearances, ranking 14th on the all-time list, the Dutchman could have been among the top 10 scorers to play in the division had it not been for the crossbar and posts.
Van Persie also squandered the most big chances (80), though Sergio Aguero (78) was hot on his heels.
910- Out on his own by three, former Aston Villa, Man City and QPR defender Richard Dunne is the unfortunate man to have scored the most own goals between 2001-02 and 2012-13, with 10.
Across his time in the Premier League, the Republic of Ireland did manage to score more goals at the right end, finishing his career in 2015 with 11 top-flight strikes.
Rahm sets sights on Ryder Cup but refuses to pay DP World Tour fines
Jon Rahm has no intention of paying the fines dealt his way by the DP World Tour, as he reiterated his desire to play at the Ryder Cup.
Rahm, who starred as Europe beat the United States in Rome last year to regain the Ryder Cup, moved to LIV Golf in February.
The Spaniard's participation in next year's Ryder Cup, which will be held in New York, remains in doubt.
Rahm was slapped with fines for playing in LIV tournaments that clashed with DP World Tour events without having requested permission.
If he does not play in three more DP World Tour tournaments before the end of the season in November, he will not be eligible to play at the Ryder Cup.
However, despite Rahm entering the Spanish Open, Dunhill Links Championship and Andalucia Masters, he will be unable to play until he pays his fines, something the 29-year-old does not plan on doing.
"I'm not a big fan of the fines. I don't intend to pay the fines and we keep trying to have a discussion with them about how we can make this happen," he said.
"I intend to play in Spain. Whether they let me play or not is a different thing."
Former European captain Padraig Harrington has limited sympathy for Rahm.
"I'm a stickler for the rules," he said.
"I'm friends with Jon but if the rules are written down, that's just the way it is. The Ryder Cup is bigger than just the match. It is the backbone of the European Tour.
"The European Tour doesn't have a lot of leverage to get players to come back across and play here. The Ryder Cup is the carrot that we use to get people to come back.
"It is a very tough situation for Luke Donald and the Ryder Cup but if the 12th guy who qualifies by sticking to the rules gets bumped out, he's not going to be happy if somebody else has not stuck to the rules. We can't forget that person."
McIlroy hoping for 'solution' to latest PGA-PIF talks
Rory McIlroy hopes there will be a "solution" from this week's scheduled talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Tiger Woods is reportedly among a number of PGA Tour representatives in New York for discussions with representatives from PIF, which funds the LIV Golf tour.
Negotiations for a deal that would inject over $1billion from PIF into PGA Tour Enterprises - launched by the tour and Strategic Sports Group as the new for-profit entity - began over a year ago,
McIlroy recently revealed his frustration at the lack of progress, but is hopeful the ongoing issues will soon be resolved.
"I think everyone in the game would love there to be one [a resolution]," the world number three told BBC Sport NI.
"A solution is hard to get to because there are different interests and people want different things. There's going to have to be compromise on both sides but hopefully they're the things they're talking about in those meetings.
"I'm hopeful and hopefully we'll be hear some good news in the foreseeable future where things start to come back together."
McIlroy was speaking ahead of this week's Irish Open at Royal County Down, where he hopes to deal with the pressure of performing on home soils.
"I've had to learn over the years how to manage my week when I come home," he added. "I'm trying so hard to perform in front of the home fans, but then if I push too hard, it's detrimental to my game.
"It's about managing all those emotions and getting lost in my own little world, and not trying to do anything I wouldn't normally do.
"Just go out there and play the best golf that I can and not get too frustrated when things don't go my way. If I can do that then I think I'll be OK.
"It would be extra special [to win here]. After everything that went on this summer and being so close to winning the US Open and being close at the Olympics as well, it would be a nice way to forget about those things and move on."
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