Presidents Cup: Jack Nicklaus has long been regarded as one of the game's most fearsome and focused competitors.

So it certainly went against type to hear the man who is arguably the greatest ever to play the game talk about the challenge of making the pairings for his US Team at The Presidents Cup, which starts tomorrow.

"What you do is make a really nice plan for the first day, and then you've got a really nice plan for the second day, and then you panic the third," Nicklaus said good-naturedly.

"That's basically what we all do - scrambling to find out who has played well, who has not played well, and you throw away all of the things you've thought about for the last six months and do something else."

Nicklaus was hardly in panic mode, however. He said his squad is "pretty well organized," and a subsequent press conference with six of the US players offered a few hints to the strategy.

Fred Couples, one of Nicklaus's two Captain's Picks, mentioned a potential pairing with Tiger Woods several times, once saying, "I did play with Tiger in Australia, and it was truly, truly a treat. I think I'm looking forward to that."

When pressed, though, Couples said, "We're just trying to throw you off. I'm really playing with (Phil) Mickelson." Woods simply flashed that megawatt smile and said, "I know, but you can't know."

SHOT OF MONTH: Italian Emanuele Canonica has won the European tour's RBS Shot of the Month award for August.

The shot was a pitch from deep rough over a bunker to within a few feet of the flag for a birdie four at the 16th hole as Canonica captured his first tour title at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

CHALLENGE TOUR: The Irish contingent on the tour will play their part in golfing history today as they tee off in the Republic of Kazakhstan for the first professional golf tournament in the country's history, the Kazakhstan Open, to be played at the Nurtau GC.

Stephen Browne, Michael Hoey, David Higgins and Colm Moriarty will all play their part in history. Hoey and Higgins have almost secured their full cards for next year as part of the Challenge Tour top 20, while a win this week, which is worth €40,000, can propel Browne and Moriarty to the top end of the rankings.

WOMEN'S SENIORS: Mary McKenna, one of the all-time greats of Irish golf, is today within sight of her second Senior Women's British Open Amateur title. The Donabate star recorded a second round of one-over-par 74 which was bettered by only one player yesterday for a 36-hole total of 152.

That means she goes into the final round this morning just one stroke behind defending champion Eva Ansgarius.