What we'll see in 2013: Who wins the Cups?

• The USA should have enough firepower to regain the Solheim Cup
• The FedExCup playoffs will come down to the wire; look for Dustin Johnson to come out on top
• The USA will keep its dominance rolling at the Presidents Cup

Who wins the Cups in 2013?

Three big cups are up for grabs, two international competitions and, of course, the FedExCup.

Here's how it should play out.

Solheim Cup: Aug. 16-18, Colorado Golf Club, Parker, Colo.

Europe, with its down-to-the-wire, 15-13 victory in Ireland two years ago, stopped the USA's domination in winning for just the fourth time against eight losses. But Europe has never won on American soil in the biennial match-play event.

While Europe's talent base has increased — see Azahara Munoz, Melissa Reid, Caroline Hedwall, Beatriz Recari, Carlota Ciganda and others — and its veteran contingent is loaded with Suzann Pettersen, Anna Nordqvist, Maria Hjorth, Sandra Gal and Catriona Matthew — the red, white and blue will have too much firepower under the leadership of Meg Mallon.

Start with Stacy Lewis, Cristie Kerr, Paula Creamer, Brittany Lincicome and Angela Stanford. Add Michelle Wie, who has played well in the last two Cups, Solheim standout Morgan Pressel, and Brittany Lang, too. Lexi Thompson will likely be playing in her first Solheim, too. Youngsters Jessica Korda and Vicky Hurst should be in the mix, as well. All in all, Mallon will have plenty of talent to pick from. In the thin air of the Centennial State, the USA wins.

FedExCup Playoffs

Aug. 22-25, The Barclays, Liberty National Golf Course, Jersey City, N.J.; Aug. 30-Sept. 2, Deutsche Bank Championship, TPC Boston, Norton, Mass.; Sept. 12-15, BMW Championship, Conway Farms Golf Club, Lake Forest, Ill.; Sept. 19-22, The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta

No one has ever gone back-to-back in the Cup's young history, with only Tiger Woods winning more than once since its inception in 2007. Defending champion Brandt Snedeker won't be the first to win two in a row, either. In 2013, just as it has been the case the past three years, the winner won't be decided until the back 9 at East Lake. Rory McIlroy, who won two FedExCup playoff events last year; Woods, Dustin Johnson, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner, Webb Simpson, Bubba Watson, Zach Johnson and yes, Snedeker, will be in the mix. So, too, will be Phil Mickelson, Keegan Bradley, Adam Scott, Justin Rose and maybe others. Yes, it's going to be quite a shootout. Here's saying Dustin Johnson makes birdie on 17 and par on 18 in the final round to win the $10 million.

Presidents Cup: Oct. 3-6, Muirfield Village Golf Club, Dublin, Ohio

These matches have not been close — the USA has won seven times, lost once and tied another. If the USA wins again, the word irrelevant might pop up more than a few times in the post-mortem wrap-ups. And despite Nick Price's captaincy, the Internationals won't be able to match the Americans' 12-deep firepower. U.S. captain Fred Couples will be 3-0 as the leader of this bunch (Ryder Cup next up for Boom Boom?) as the Stars & Stripes will again be the superior group, this time at Jack's place. The Internationals will be plenty loaded, with Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Jason Day and others, but the USA is just too first-class from 1-12.