Value priceless among Cup players

Kevin Kisner began to appreciate the value of playing in the Presidents Cup two months before the matches evenstarted.

All because of a text message.

He was at the recent World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational when he received a group text sent to players who were in position to make the U.S. team. The idea was to make everyone feel like a team, whether the exchange of messages was motivational or simply amusing.

Kisner is among the more popular figures in the locker room, but there were still a few numbers in that group text that he didn’t recognize. He wasn’t alone, mainly because the guy who started the thread — U.S. captain Steve Stricker — put in the wrong number for Charley Hoffman. And that soon became clear to everyone.

“Some dude told us he didn’t care and to quit texting him,”Kisner said.

Kisner is among five players who have never played in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team, the most since five players experienced their first professional team competition at the 2010 Ryder Cup teamin Wales. The Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup are not on the same level when it comesto history or hype, pressureor publicity.

Butthere’s no difference for thosetrying to be part of it.

That’s why Brooks Koepka wore himself out in the summer of 2015 by playing eight times in nine weeks in a desperate bid to make the Presidents Cup. He missed out and didn’t make his team debut until the following year at the RyderCup.

There are varying levels of acceptance on the PGA Tour, which starts with winning a tournament. Players also are looked upon differently when they’re part of a U.S. team, especially when it becomes a habit.

“It’s kind of like the good ol’ boys club, if that makes sense,” Koepka said. “You learn so much about each other,but you know them on a personal level. It seems like out here, it’s more like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ You’re playing with them, and that’s about it. But you never get into any real interesting conversations or whatever it might be. Now you sit down for lunch, you know the names and ages of their kids. I didn’t have that beforethe Ryder Cup.”

Els staying home

Ernie Els pulled out of the KLM Openin The Hague, Netherlands, so he can stay with family and friends in Florida to deal with the fallout from Hurricane Irma.