PGATOUR.com offers up creative combinations Sep. 20, 2005 PGATOUR.com Staff Who cares about birdies and bogeys? Forget fairways and greens. Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player admittedly have a hard job as their Presidents Cup teams face off this week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. But before the golf gets serious on Thursday, let's have a little bit of fun with the pairings. Here are some we'd like to see: Davis Love III and Kenny Perry - Love's wife gave him a custom-made "American Chopper" for his 40th birthday while Perry likes to ride Harley Davidsons in his free time. They could certainly get the motor running for the Americans. Fred Couples and Phil Mickelson - Couples thought about a baseball career briefly about 10 years before he turned professional as a golfer; Mickelson thought about a baseball career about 10 years after he became a professional golfer. David Toms could join the group, too -- he grew up playing baseball with major leaguers Albert Belle and Ben McDonald. Justin Leonard and Phil Mickelson - Leonard likes skiing and Mickelson used to -- until he broke his leg, that is. David Toms and Davis Love III - They could talk hunting between shots, and there are plenty of deer roaming the grounds around Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Scott Verplank and Fred Funk - This could be alternate-shot nirvana since neither one ever misses a fairway. Fred Couples and Davis Love III - Their World Cup magic intact; the two close friends could also compare spinal irregularities. Tiger Woods and David Toms - We've got single syllable names here with plural connotation. Stewart Cink and Fred Funk - A love of water skiing and snow skiing make these men for all seasons. Fred Funk and Jim Furyk - The Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., neighbors are alphabetically the two closest players from either team. Justin Leonard and Scott Verplank - Both were born in Dallas. Leonard can tell Verplank, who now lives in Edmond, Okla., how things have changed. Pairs to avoid David Toms and Chris DiMarco - Toms is an LSU fan, DiMarco is a die-hard Florida fan. There could be too much SEC tension here. Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk - Ditto, this time for the Pac-10. Mickelson went to Arizona State while Furyk is from arch-rival Arizona. International Team Mike Weir and Nick O'Hern - This pairing would give hope to lefties everywhere. And if they played against Mickelson, it would be, hand's down, one for the ages. Nick O’Hern and Mike Campbell - Both are wine collectors who can critique Weir's label. Retief Goosen and Peter Lonard - Goosen overcame being struck by lightning while Lonard battled Ross River Fever, a mosquito-carried virus. Adam Scott and Vijay Singh - Between shots, Scott can offer tips to Singh, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, on how to finally win the elusive PLAYERS Championship. Stuart Appleby and Mark Hensby - Appleby likes cars so much, he could probably live in one. Hensby actually did live in his for a month or so. Retief Goosen and Michael Campbell - The USGA would like this one. Goosen and Campbell are the two most recent U.S. Open champs. Trevor Immelman and Tim Clark - Clark, one of Gary Player’s Captain’s Picks in 2003, and Immelman, who was selected this year, are both South Africans and music fans.