Norman names Nobilo his right-hand man

Greg Norman has sprung a minor surprise by naming New Zealand's Frank Nobilo as his captain's assistant for the International Team in next year's Presidents Cup clash with the United States.

Former US tour player Nobilo got the nod from the Shark ahead of another close friend, Nick Price of Zimbabwe, who would have been a good fit with the strong southern African contingent likely to be in Norman's team.

The Presidents Cup is contested biennially and pits players from non-European countries, including Australia and New Zealand against the always powerful US team.

Norman makes his debut as non-playing captain of the Internationals against the Fred Couples-led Americans at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco in October next year.

"It was a very difficult decision," said Norman in a teleconference from his home in South Florida on Thursday.

"It boiled it down to four, maybe three individuals and of those three, two have a chance of playing on the team."

"Frank was always in the front line because of his knowledge, his perception and his understanding of the game and where the players are at."

Nobilo's commentary and analyst role with the US Golf Channel allows him to stay in touch with most of the likely players and up to the minute with their form and that will be a big asset for Norman in team selections and pairings.

He also has a feel for the Presidents Cup having played in the event in 1994-96-98 - the last two times with Norman as a teammate.

"I've know Frank for a long period of time, his career as a player, he's been very successful with a number of tournament victories," said Norman.

"But most importantly I've seen what he is like behind scenes at the Presidents when I was on the same team as him in '96 and '98.

"He's very likeable, he's very amenable and he's very decisive in his decisions.

"We want to win the Presidents Cup outright and I had to surround myself with somebody who has the same passion for the game of golf and the same passion for victory as I do."

Nobilo, 48, who retired in 2003 because of injuries, said it was a great honour to be Norman's assistant.

"One of the things I always liked about Greg was he told you what he thought whether you liked it or not and he made you stand up for what you believed in.

"To be part of something he is involved in and believes in as strongly as I do, which is the future of the game, it is probably as good as any highlight I experienced when I played golf.

-AAP