Muirfield Village Golf Club to host The Presidents Cup in 2013

Venue becomes the first to host The Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup

DUBLIN, Ohio – PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem and four-time U.S. Presidents Cup Team Captain Jack Nicklaus announced today that Muirfield Village Golf Club will host The Presidents Cup in 2013, when the biennial competition returns to the United States. The 2013 Presidents Cup will be held Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2013.

Muirfield Village Golf Club becomes the third golf course in the United States to host the prestigious match-play competition, joining Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Va., (1994, 1996, 2000), and Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Calif., (2009). The venue, where the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley has been held annually since 1976, has also hosted several national championships and international team competitions including the 1986 U.S. Junior Amateur, 1987 Ryder Cup, 1992 U.S. Amateur and the 1998 Solheim Cup.

“I’d like to congratulate and thank Jack Nicklaus for his partnership in bringing The Presidents Cup to Muirfield Village Golf Club in 2013,” said Tim Finchem. “The history of this golf course is well documented, as is Jack’s commitment to The Presidents Cup, which he served as U.S. Team Captain in 1998, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Jack created Muirfield Village to illustrate his passion for tournament golf and challenge the world’s best players. The selection of Muirfield Village as the site of the next Presidents Cup in the United States is confirmation of what the golf club and Jack Nicklaus has meant to the history of our sport.”

“I have always considered Muirfield Village Golf Club a showcase for my love and respect for the game of golf, as well as a representation of my passion for competition and tournament golf,” said Nicklaus. “In turn, I view The Presidents Cup as a wonderful showcase for the global game of golf and a platform to promote the good will and sportsmanship inherent to the sport. I have been extremely proud of my association over the years with The Presidents Cup and have been amazed and impressed with its growth as one of the game’s premier team competitions. I think this is an ideal marriage, and I am pleased and proud that Muirfield Village will have the opportunity to host this great event.”

Muirfield Village becomes the first club in the world to host three of golf’s most prestigious international team competitions—The Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup.

“Part of my father’s legacy to the game is what he has created with Muirfield Village Golf Club and the Memorial Tournament,” said Jack Nicklaus II, general chairman of the Memorial Tournament and chairman of Muirfield Village Golf Club. “A significant factor in the building of that legacy has been the overwhelming support from the fans and patrons of Central Ohio. They have always embraced the Memorial, as well as the other great golf events played at Muirfield Village Golf Club over the decades, and we fully expect golf fans to enthusiastically support The Presidents Cup in 2013.”

Muirfield Village Golf Club was the dream and work of Nicklaus. The land was acquired in 1966, but construction did not begin until July 28, 1972. The golf course is situated on 220 acres, which includes an 11-acre driving range. Designed by Nicklaus with early collaboration from Desmond Muirhead, the course was officially dedicated on Memorial Day, May 27, 1974, with an exhibition match between Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf. Nicklaus carded a six-under-par 66, which stood as the course record until 1979. John Huston’s 11-under 61 during round two of the 1996 Memorial Tournament is the current course record. The 18-hole layout played at 6,978 yards in its original form, but is now 7,366.

Nicklaus’ revolutionary design of Muirfield Village Golf Club was the first course in the world, from its inception, that was created with the spectator in mind. His creative use of “mounds” and “amphitheaters” became a model for tournament courses around the globe.

When it came to naming his masterpiece, Nicklaus looked to the origins of golf and the home of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Muirfield, whose records date back to 1744 when the Club wrote the original 13 rules of golf for the first competition played for the Silver Club. Muirfield in Scotland is where Nicklaus represented his country for the first time in the 1959 Walker Cup and where he won his first Open Championship in 1966 to complete his first Grand Slam. It was a perfect fit for the name of his new world-class golf course and club.

The Presidents Cup, a team match play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top golfers—12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe—is held every two years, and since 1996 has alternated between United States and international venues. At the most recent Presidents Cup, the U.S. Team retained the Cup from the Internationals in one of the most exciting and successful events to date at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Calif., October 2009.

The Presidents Cup was developed to give the world’s best non-European players an opportunity to compete in international team match-play competition. The U.S. Team has won six of the eight previous Presidents Cups, and the only outright win by the International Team came at the 1998 event in Melbourne. The 2003 Presidents Cup in South Africa ended in a tie, when, after a three halved sudden-death playoff holes and in darkness, Captains Nicklaus and Gary Player declared the matches a draw.

The Presidents Cup is a unique golf event in that there is no purse or prize money. Players are not personally paid for their participation, but each competitor allocates an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice. An alphabetical listing of the charities chosen by the players, captains and captain’s assistants is available in the attached document. Since the event’s inception, nearly $22 million has been raised for charities around the world, including a record-tying $4.2 million in 2009.

The Presidents Cup 2011 is scheduled for November 14-20, 2011, at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Royal Melbourne Golf Club has existed continuously since 1891 on Melbourne’s famed Sandbelt golf region, and is one of the most highly regarded golf clubs in Australia. Royal Melbourne is the first golf course outside of the United States to host the prestigious match-play competition more than once. Fred Couples is the U.S. Team captain, while the International Team will be led by Greg Norman. The Americans currently hold an all-time 6-1-1 lead in the competition.

For more information on The Presidents Cup, visit www.PresidentsCup.com.