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By Douglas Robson, Special for USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Among the intriguing potential matchups during this week's Presidents Cup at Harding Park is one for the generations — literally.
With more than three decades between them, Ryo Ishikawa and Kenny Perry could be father and son. Indeed, Perry's three children — Lesslye, 25, Justin, 23, and Lindsey, 21 — are all older than Ishikawa. "I started dating my wife two years before he was born," Canada's Mike Weir quipped about his young teammate. "That's kinda scary." At 18, Japanese sensation Ishikawa is the youngest competitor in the history of the event, which started in 1994 and is in its eighth edition. Perry turned 49 less than two months ago and is the fourth-oldest participant after Jay Haas (2003), Hale Irwin (1994) and Fred Funk (2005). Haas holds the age record at 49 years, 11 months and 18 days. To put that age gap in perspective, consider that Kentucky native Perry was born at the end of the Eisenhower Administration in 1960. Ishikawa, from the Tokyo suburbs, came into the world in 1991 during Bill Clinton's first term. Whether the "Shy Prince," as Ishikawa is known back home, or near-Masters winner Perry will face off remains to be seen. Both team captains said Tuesday they'd like to see the two players from different eras pair off, though no collusion is expected. "I'm sure it will happen one of the days over the four days," U.S. captain Fred Couples said. "I'm glad (Perry's) here, and if he gets paired with Ishikawa, then it will be an interesting matchup," International Team captain Greg Norman added. Perry, who lost a playoff to Angel Cabrera at Augusta National after leading in regulation by two strokes with two holes to go, agreed. "If I get paired against him it'll be fun," he said. "I enjoy watching him because he's the future of golf." Separated by 31 years, three-time Presidents Cup member Perry and rookie Ishikawa arrive with extra emotional baggage. Perry is coping the recent death of his mother. Mildred Perry, 79, died last week (Oct. 1) after a long battle with blood cancer. "I don't know if it's good therapy, but I consider these guys family as well," said Perry, who attended his mother's funeral Sunday and is keeping family close by having his son, Justin, caddie for him here. Ishikawa, who last week won his fourth Japan Golf Tour title of 2009 at the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic and is the youngest man to break into the top 50 in the world rankings, is shouldering the crushing expectations of being his country's next superstar. He is also the first Japanese player in the Presidents Cup since Shigeki Maruyama in 2000. "You can't compare" the media attention with 2000, noted Reiko Takekawa, who covers golf for Japan-based Kyodo News. She estimated that the number of media are 10-fold from nine years ago when Maruyama competed. "I do feel some nerves because I am representing Japan," said Ishikawa, who doesn't have any particular preference for who he faces. "Whoever it is I go against, I'm obviously going to be excited. It will be a lot of fun whoever that might be." Perry said as both a father and a fellow competitor he was impressed by the teenager's poise. "I couldn't live under that," the 14-time PGA Tour winner said. "My son said there is no way I could play under that kind of pressure. But he does great. He handles it well." Norman, who used one of his two captain's picks to select Ishikawa, said he secretly scouted the teenager on the driving range at this year's British Open at Turnberry. He liked what he saw. "He was so focused hitting balls," Norman said. "For a kid of his young age, he's got heaps of maturity about him."
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THE YOUNG
