Internationals favourites to beat US

Veteran Phil Mickelson says the International team are favourites to beat the United States in this week's Presidents Cup because of home course advantage. Mickelson, 41, who has not missed the teams event since its 1994 inauguration, said the Americans face a challenge at Royal Melbourne to continue their dominance in the event, which gets under way on Thursday. "Certainly, I would expect them (Internationals) to be the favourite because of their home course knowledge, as well as the home course support, but I do expect the US team to put on a good challenge," Mickelson said Tuesday. The United States have dominated The Presidents Cup, held in alternative years to the traditional Ryder Cup, winning the event six times out of eight with just one loss and a tie. The Americans' only defeat came at this week's Royal Melbourne venue in 1998 when the Internationals, featuring Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Nick Price, won by nine points. "We have done pretty well in this competition and we have been able to do OK at home and away, but the only time we have lost at all is right here in Royal Melbourne," Mickelson said. "It's a real challenge for us to play here, because we are playing such a strong team, the International team has a lot of great players, a lot of great Australian players. "The people here are so supportive of the game of golf and so supportive of the Australian players that it's challenging for us to play well here." Mickelson, shaping up for his 17th team event for the United States, said the winning formula was getting a successful fit within the team in the foursomes, fourball and singles formats. "I think that you want to have similar style of play in foursomes," he said. "You want to have opposing style of play in fourball. You want to have a similar type of demeanour, if you can match that up, because it seems to lead to a little bit better energy, a little bit better momentum throughout the day. "That, historically, has kind of worked well if you can get all three to fit."