ESPN 2007 Presidents Cup

MONTREAL -- Gary Player is like that guy sitting in the commercial, rain pouring down all around him for hours, convinced the sun will burst through the clouds at any moment and allow his round of golf to proceed.

There is not a negative bone in the Hall of Famer's body, and he will undoubtedly wake up Sunday morning ready to charge through a wall and give a rousing pep talk to his International team heading into the singles matches at the Presidents Cup.

But ol' laddie is no dummy. Even he knows that the situation is bleak.

"The egg is not sunny-side up," he said.

Singles matches

The following are Sunday's 12 singles matches at the Presidents Cup: • Scott Verplank, U.S. vs. Rory Sabbatini, Int'l. • Lucas Glover, U.S. vs. Ernie Els, Int'l. • Phil Mickelson, U.S. vs. Vijay Singh, Int'l. • Tiger Woods, U.S. vs. Mike Weir, Int'l. • Woody Austin, U.S. vs. Angel Cabrera, Int'l. • Zach Johnson, U.S. vs. Adam Scott, Int'l. • David Toms, U.S. vs. Trevor Immelman, Int'l. • Stewart Cink, U.S. vs. Nick O'Hern, Int'l. • Steve Stricker, U.S. vs. Geoff Ogilvy, Int'l. • Hunter Mahan, U.S. vs. K.J. Choi, Int'l. • Charles Howell III, U.S. vs. Stuart Appleby, Int'l. • Jim Furyk, U.S. vs. Retief Goosen, Int'l.

No, and a cynic might suggest that it is on the face of the International players, who came into the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal with nine members of their team ranked among the top 20 in the world and could leave Canada beaten up and bloody.

The Americans turned the competition into a rout on Saturday, winning 7½ of a possible 10 points, including a 5-0-0 whitewash in the morning. Even in the afternoon matches, when it appeared the Internationals might take four out of five matches to at least make Sunday mildly interesting, became a downer for the home team when Angel Cabrera and K.J. Choi could not put away Stewart Cink and Jim Furyk -- losing 1-up -- and Phil Mickelson and Woody Austin rallied for a half point.

That meant a whopping 14½-7½ U.S. lead heading into Sunday's 12 singles matches -- a session the Internationals have never won in six previous Presidents Cups.

The Americans need to win just three matches to clinch the Cup.

"It's nice to be leading by a lot," Cink said. "You want it to be as big as possible. I think we'll go out there trying to increase the lead, play like we're tied or behind. We don't want to limp in.

"Also, everybody cares about their own record."

And that's what Sunday basically comes down to.

But it won't be lacking for some drama, at least on a personal level.

Player and U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus did their best to give us some interesting matchups. Player gave in to the wants of a nation when he put Canada's Mike Weir up against Tiger Woods in the fourth pairing of the day.

And perhaps even better than that is the Mickelson-Vijay Singh duel in the prior match. Nicklaus did not hesitate to put Mickelson's name alongside Singh's after Player put the Fijian out third in an obvious attempt to get some early momentum. Here's hoping that Mickelson wears his longest set of metal spikes in honor of the 2005 Masters incident that helped fuel the feud between the two players.

The notion of the Canadian hero taking on the world's No. 1 player has been all but a national obsession since before the event again. Both Player and Nicklaus have repeatedly been asked about it, and while there are some out there who might get a kick out of a Woods-Rory Sabbatini battle, a Woods-Weir matchup adds some spice to a final day that will otherwise be lacking.

"I think Mike has earned the right to represent us against the No. 1 player in the world and certainly in Canada," Stuart Appleby said. "It's a bit of a Cinderella story. We have not put him there for token value. He's obviously a player who has got some form, found some form and showing form. Who do you put up against Tiger Woods? I guess there's a sentimental point to it and also a functional point. He's not a weak link and it's not lambs to the slaughter."

It could easily be argued that Weir deserves that crack at Woods simply because he's been the best player on the International team. He has a 2-1-1 record and seems to be emerging from the slump that had many even questioning whether he merited one of Player's captain selections. And let's face it, would the Presidents Cup even be in Canada were it not for Weir, the 2003 Masters champion and the only Canadian to win a men's major championship?

"If there's one player on our team who will really give Tiger a go, it's Mike Weir," Ernie Els said.

Woods has relished these opportunities in the past at the Presidents Cup. He defeated Greg Norman in his native Australia 1-up in 1998 and knocked off Els in his native South Africa 4 and 3 in 2003. On top of that, Woods went shot for shot with Els in the competition's only sudden-death playoff before the event was termed a draw.

Now, all of the singles matches must go to completion while the outcome of the overall Presidents Cup is still in doubt. That means the International team must win 10 out of 12 to win the Cup.

"Well, the odds are stacked against us," Player said. "But we saw some strange things happen at Brookline in the Ryder Cup the year [1999] Ben Crenshaw captained [the U.S. team]."

That was the last time the U.S. won the Ryder Cup. If the Internationals are able to pull off that kind of comeback, Player's egg will be sunny-side up and it will be the Americans who have it all over their face.

Bob Harig is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.