PODS Championship notebook

By Dave Scheiber, Times Staff Writer
In print: Wednesday, March 5, 2008

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Couples on the Cup

Fred Couples, newly named captain of the Presidents Cup, has a couple of surprising ideas for the team — one is former NBA great Michael Jordan, the other comedian Robin Williams. Reporters at the Honda Classic assumed Couples was kidding last week when he mentioned he was considering the two as his assistant captains. But Tuesday he insisted he was serious. On Jordan: "I think he is one of the greatest team players. Everyone likes him. I certainly do. I've been around him several years in a row in August, and I've exchanged messages with him." On Williams: "I was hoping that we could meet him and have him come. If he comes to the tournament, great. At night, come over and hang out with the guys. I have been on nine teams; this will be the 10th I've been part of. It can get extremely boring. … In my opinion, to have someone of that magnitude come in and be funny and entertaining would be a treat for everyone."

Watching history

Fourth-year PGA Tour member J.B. Holmes will play in his first Masters this year. He recalled attending the 1997 Masters with his father and watching Tiger Woods win by 12 strokes. Did he sense he was witnessing greatness? "He got on a hole and he hit it out there — I looked at my dad and I said, 'That's not that far.' '' Holmes wasn't sold at first, thinking, "He won one. He is not going to do that all the time." But, as Holmes soon noticed with the rest of the world, "He started doing it all the time." Including two weeks ago. Woods defeated Holmes on the last hole in the first round of the World Match Play Championship.

Scratches

Brandt Jobe, Fredrik Jacobson and Tim Clark withdrew and were replaced by Marc Turnesa, Kevin Streelman and Jin Park.

Dave Scheiber, Times staff writer