Geoff Ogilvy hanging out with President Clinton in a practice round

The Presidents Cup gets underway today at Harding Park in San Francisco. Here are the pairings for Thursday’s foursome  matches:

International vs. US.

Tim Clark and Mike Weir vs. Anthony Kim and Phil Mickelson

Adam Scott and Ernie Els vs. Hunter Mahan and Sean O’Hair

Vijay Singh and Robert Allenby vs. Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink

Angel Cabrera and Camilo Villegas vs. Kenny Perry and Zach Johnson

Geoff Ogilvy and Ryo Ishikawa vs. Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker

Retief Goosen and Y.E. Yang vs. Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard

In case you’re not familiar with the “foursome” format, it’s basically just two guys playing “alternate shot” — Player A hits the drive and then Player B hits the next shot, etc. As you see, PUMA athlete Geoff Ogilvy is paired with 18-year-old phenom Ryo Ishikawa…and they’re taking on the world’s number 1 and 3 players, Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker.

This match will definitely be the one to watch. Ogilvy’s record at past Presidents Cup matches is 2-3-0. He is the top-ranked player on the International squad. And Ishikawa is probably the hottest one — last week he won on the Japanese Tour, his fourth victory since June.

Ogilvy requested to be paired with the young’n. In yesterday’s presser, Ryo said:

The first time I met Mr. Ogilvy was at the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan. He was very nice to me then and also coming into this week, he’s been really nice to me this week. I’m just really happy to be paired with him. Because I had known him in the past, I didn’t know that I would get to pair with him this week, but it was great that it worked out this way and that I get to pair with him. And the other players and caddies have come up me and said, “Geoff really wanted to play with you.” So when I heard that, I was really, really happy.

Aww, shucks! Awfully kind of Ogilvy to step up and mentor the teen! Best of luck to them tomorrow — they best be bringing their A game to beat Tiger/Stricker! But hey, crazier things have happened. Not to mention there’s more chance for underdogs to disappoint in match play. And that’s why it’s so fun to watch. Get excited!