Team Qualification: The first 10 players on the U.S. team qualify via a points list based on official money earned in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, with 1998 earnings counting double. The squad will be filled out by two captain's selections. The International (rest of the world excluding Europe) team is made up of the top-10 players from the Official World Golf Ranking, plus two captain's selections.

Captains: Jack Nicklaus for the U.S., Peter Thomson for the Internationals.

Format: On both Friday and Saturday, there are five foursomes and five four-ball matches. Every member of each team must play at least one match each day. There are 12 singles matches on Sunday. Singles matches go extra holes unless either team has compiled the 161/2 points necessary for victory. If the overall match is tied at the end of singles play, there will be a sudden-death playoff between two players designated in advance by their respective captains.

History: Fred Couples scored the clinching point with heroic shots in each of the first two Presidents Cups, played at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Northern Virginia in 1994 and 1996. The International team's hopes were dimmed in 1994 when Ernie Els passed on his invitation and Greg Norman withdrew due to illness. The U.S. jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first session and finished with a 20-12 victory, but Sunday wasn't without drama. The U.S. had 16 points with seven matches on the course, but six of those were tied (four going to extra holes) with the Internationals leading the other. Couples clinched it by hitting a 9-iron to within one foot of the hole on the 18th for a birdie to beat Nick Price. In 1996, the U.S. again jumped to an early lead, but the Internationals pulled within one point after Saturday and the competition was tied with only one singles match remaining. Couples provided the knockout punch with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to beat Vijay Singh.

U.S. Outlook: All systems are go. The team reads almost Nicklaus would want it: David Duval, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Mark O'Meara, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Scott Hoch, Fred Couples, Lee Janzen, John Huston and Mark Calcavecchia. Although the team was altered at the last moment following Hal Sutton's withdrawal due to the death of his father-in-law. In Presidents Cup play, Love is 7-2-1, Couples 6-1, and Hoch 5-2-1 in two appearances; O'Meara was 5-0 and Duval 4-0 in their only appearance in 1996 (teaming for three wins together). All of the team are in the top 30 of the World Rankings and on paper are the stronger team.

International Outlook: After playing in front of a U.S. crowd twice, the Internationals will be glad to have the gallery on their side. Although there may not be such a thing as a "home" course for a team from around the world, Royal Melbourne is close. Many of the internationals are in excellent present form, even if the world rankings would suggest that the US team have an edge. Nick Price and Vijay Singh both won at their last outing, and Stuart Appleby was tied for second at last weeks Australian Open.