International team captain Nick Price of Zimbabwe (L) and US captain Fred Couples get together at a captains' press conference during the first practice round for the 2013 Presidents Cup in Dublin, Ohio, Tuesday. — Reuters DUBLIN, Ohio — Nick Price was reluctant to describe this week's Presidents Cup as a ‘must-win' for his International team but he knows how important it is for United States dominance to be broken in the biennial competition. The Internationals have beaten the US only once in nine editions of the Ryder Cup-style event, losing all four of the most recent encounters, and need to make this week “very competitive,” according to Price. “All of us who've been involved in the Presidents Cup know how important this one is,” International captain Price said during a news conference at Muirfield Village Golf Club Tuesday where both teams were practicing. “I wouldn't say it's a must-win. That's a hard thing to put on anyone. But this one needs to be competitive. “More important than anything else, this Presidents Cup needs to be very competitive because the last four ... I honestly believe they have not been that competitive.” Price represented the Internationals in the first five Presidents Cups, including 1998 in Melbourne when the US was beaten and 2003 in South Africa when the trophy was shared. “When we started out with the Presidents Cup, the initial guys, myself and Greg (Norman) and Ernie (Els), we so enjoyed watching the Ryder Cup and so wanted to be a part of the Ryder Cup-type format,” said former world No. 1 Price. “And then the Presidents Cup came along and that was fantastic. The first few were pretty exciting but as we have seen in the last decade, since 2003, it just has not been as competitive as we would like. “And you can debate why; there's many reasons. But for all of us, this is a really big week.” As he and his team prepare for a big week at Muirfield Village, Price was delighted to report that former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was fully fit after being sidelined for two months by a neck-related injury. “Louis is 100 percent,” three-time major winner Price said of the South African. Price and his opposite number, US captain Fred Couples, will Wednesday announce their pairings for Thursday's fourball matches but likely combinations were already shaping up on the first day of official practice. Good friends Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel were the first group to tee off in practice Tuesday, followed by Australian Jason Day and Canadian Graham DeLaet and then South Africans Richard Sterne and Branden Grace. Cup veteran Els was paired up with Zimbabwean rookie Brendon de Jonge, Masters champion Adam Scott of Australia played with Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Argentina's Angel Cabrera linked up with Australian Marc Leishman. — Reuters
