Courtesy: Canadian Press

Barring a miracle by the International squad or a complete meltdown by the American team, the 2007 President's Cup is going home with the U.S. side today.

It would be the first time that the Americans have won the President's trophy on "foreign" soil - if Americans consider Canada as foreign soil.

Is there something to be read into that? I don't know. But the US golf brain-trust might want to throw it into the hopper and let it ferment for awhile. Along with general and on-going match-play troubles (surprisingly absent in this match-play competition but still prevalent in Ryder Cup play), the American players don't do well on the road.

As I say, it could be pure coincidence.

If, as widely predicted, the Americans pick up the 3 points they need to successfully defend - and do it away from home - then there's another monkey off their backs with the Ryder Cup just 12 months away in Wales.

Of course, Wales is a lot farther from home than Montreal is.

One of the Americans who has played well in Montreal is Scott Verplank. And he would probably owe a big debt of thanks to a guy named Tom Wishon.

Tom Wishon is a master club designer and club maker who lives and works just outside Denver. He's got more than 30 years in the business of building golf clubs and there's probably not another human being who knows more about club making and club fitting than Wishon.

Tom custom-built Verplank's irons. He has also built clubs for Ben Crenshaw and outfitted the late Payne Stewart with custom irons just before Stewart captured the U.S. Open in 1999.

Tomorrow, I'm posting the first of a two-part interview I did with Tom earlier this week.

This is information you need to hear.

Tom pulls no punches in what he says about the big club manufacturers and how they mislead the golfing public. He details the mistakes we amateurs make when we buy clubs off-the-rack and, more importantly, explains how to avoid those mistakes in the future.

Here's a taste.

Wishon_Tease Clip.mp3