Presidents Cup: How the U.S. Team Finished in their Preparations

It's Presidents Cup week 'Down Under' as both the U.S. and International teams converge on Royal Melbourne for the 2011 chapter of this event.

Of course, much was made in the media about Tiger Woods and his former caddy Steve Williams, as Williams had reportedly used a racial slur aimed towards his former boss at a caddy's event earlier last week.

All seems to be well; as far as we know, between the two and we can now look forward to the Presidents Cup competition actually on the golf course instead of off of it for a change.

With 20 of the 24 players from both team's squads in action at various tournaments near or in Australia, we are going to look at how the U.S. team members fared in their 'tune-ups' if you will, heading into the Presidents Cup.

Tiger Woods - Playing in Australia for the first time since winning the Aussie Masters in 2009, the former No. 1 player in the world had a good week heading into the Presidents Cup as he finished in solo 3rd in the Aussie Open.

Phil Mickelson - A Presidents Cup veteran, Mickelson teed it up at the Barclay's Singapore Open instead of in Australia like most of his team mates. 'Lefty' did make the cut in the rain shortened event at the Sentosa Golf Club. Though his scores of 71, 67 and 70 were only good enough for a tie for 33rd at the event.

Nick Watney - Watney also played in the Australian Open opening with a great round of 66 before falling behind in the second round with a 73. Figuring out the greens later in the week, finishing in a tie for fourth.

Bubba Watson - The long hitting left-hander had a better experience in global golf down under than he did on his trip to France I would think. Watson, playing in the Aussie Open, played steady but not great golf. Rounds of 68, 70, 72, 72 found him finishing in a tie for 12th.

Bill Haas - The 2011 FedEx Cup Champion was also in the field at the Australian Open. The son of assistant captain Jay Haas, just couldn't seem to get anything going strong at The Lakes Course, hovering right around even par all week long. He finished in a tie for 29th.

Dustin Johnson - Johnson started out the Australian Open with a nice round of 66 to be among the names near the top of the leader board after round one. Unfortunately, his play went south from there. Back-to-back 75's and a final round of 72 saw Johnson finish in a tie for 38th.

David Toms - One of the 'old guard' on this year's team, Toms like Johnson was unable to find much of anything around The Lakes Course this past week. With no round better than a two-under 70, Toms was right with Johnson in a tie for 38th.

Matt Kuchar - Not much can be said about Kuchar's week at the Australian Open. Rounds of 74 and 73 saw him miss the cut at The Lakes Course.

Hunter Mahan - Mahan opened his first round of the Australian Open with a lack luster 73. However, a nagging injury forced him to withdraw from the event. This was a precautionary measure only Mahan and U.S. Captain Fred Couples announced.

Now that the teams are through with their tune-up events, all eyes can now focus on the Presidents Cup matches themselves this week at Royal Melbourne.

It should be an exciting event to end 2011 on.