By Rahul Banerji
“As captain, I’m going to choose Tiger Woods as the last player on the team,” Tiger Woods said on a worldwide media call on Friday morning, completing his remaining picks to Team USA for the Presidents Cup in Australia this December.
“He’s made, what, nine Cups and he’s played in Australia twice in the Presidents Cup, so this will be his third appearance as a player. And I find it interesting talking in the third person,” Tiger said as laughter echoed around the media conference venue, and across the world.
Besides himself, after having won a record-tying 82nd PGA Tour title last month, Woods chose Tony Finau, Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed to the team to take on Ernie Els’ Internationals at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club from December 9 to 15.
His own selection made Tiger Woods only the second playing captain in Presidents Cup history after Hale Irwin in 1994.
Powerful squad
The four named Friday join Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson and Justin Thomas to complete a powerful and experienced US squad.
In contrast, Els on Thursday named the youngest ever International steam in the competitions history.
“It’s going to be difficult, but also I have three amazing assistants with Fred, Strick and Zach, and that helps a lot, two guys that have won Presidents Cups and one will be a future captain along the line in the near future,” Woods said.
“Three great minds that will help me when I’m playing.
“It’s going to be a lot of work, but something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time. I’ve been vice captain in two Cups, so understanding it and seeing it, what those roles are is a little bizarre, and seeing it from a different side is really going to help.”
And at the end of the conference, Tiger picked up a marker pen, carefully scrawled “playing” across the board that said “Captain”, and walked off cheerfully.
Job done.
Tiger Woods
Woods (finished no. 13 in the US Team standings) will become the Presidents Cup’s second-ever playing captain and make his ninth career Presidents Cup appearance. Woods has a Presidents Cup record of 24-15-1 since his first appearance on the 1998 US Team, and he is one of five players to earn a perfect 5-0-0 record during a single event (2009).
His 24 matches won are second all-time to Phil Mickelson’s 26 and his six singles victories are the most in the event’s history. Woods also holed the winning putt for the US Team in 2009, 2011 (at Royal Melbourne) and 2013 – the only player to clinch the Cup three times.
In mid-August, Woods underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair minor cartilage damage in his left knee. He made his first start of the 2019-20 season at the Zozo Championship, held at least a share of the lead after each round en route to a three-stroke victory in Japan for his 82nd title that tied him with Sam Snead.
Tony Finau
Tony Finau (no. 9) will make his Presidents Cup debut after narrowly missing out on one of the eight automatic qualifying spots. The 30-year-old recorded a consistent season in 2018-19 that resulted in six top-10 finishes in 25 starts and his third consecutive Tour Championship appearance.
Finau competed for the United States at the 2018 Ryder Cup, where he finished with a 2-1-0 record.
“Extremely pumped and excited to add my talent to the mix of guys and to play for Tiger,” Finau said.
“It was a goal of mine to start this season and I know I wanted to just have the opportunity to play and play for Tiger. So I was very pleased to get that phone call. It’s one that I’ll remember forever and I’m excited, again, to join the team and honoured to get that call from Tiger.”
“This will be his first Presidents Cup; he played in the Ryder Cup last year. So he’s been around it, he’s understood it, and what a great team guy and a pleasure and just an overall genuinely nice guy,” Woods said.
“Everyone on this team wants to play with Tony. He can play either format, which is great, so we look forward to having him part of this team.”
Patrick Reed
Back for his third consecutive Presidents Cup, Patrick Reed (no. 12) will join the team as captain’s pick for the first time.
Following a 1-2-1 performance in his debut in 2015, Reed rebounded in 2017 and teamed with Jordan Spieth to earn 3.5 points before falling to Louis Oosthuizen, 1-up, in singles. His overall Presidents Cup record sits at 4-3-2.
Reed earned his seventh career PGA Tour victory at The Northern Trust to go along with four other top-10 finishes during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season.
Known for his match-play prowess, Reed has competed in every team event for the United States since the 2014 Ryder Cup.
“For me personally, I live for events like the President’s Cup and Ryder Cup,” Reed said. “I enjoy every minute of the competition, the fans and playing for our country.
“It means so much to me to be a part of this team, and I’m going to do everything I can to help the USA bring home the Presidents Cup.”
“This is a person that is as fiery as they come and he’s bleeding red, white, and blue and he will do anything to get points for you, and that’s what we want,” Woods said.
Gary Woodland
Gary Woodland (no. 10) will make his Presidents Cup debut following his most successful season on the PGA Tour that yielded two runner-up finishes to go along with his fourth career victory at the US Open.
In five starts following the Open, Woodland finished no better than T31 and fell out of the top-8 in the standings. Through three starts during the 2019-2020 season, however, Woodland collected two top-5 finishes at The CJ Cup @ Nine Bridges (T3) and the Zozo (5th), where he was paired with Woods for the final two rounds.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am. I’ve been close to making a lot of teams and I have never made one,” Woodland said.
“It’s been a goal at the start of every year to make that team…I miss the team atmosphere. I want to get in that locker room and see the guys. That’s what I’m looking forward to, and on top of that, representing your country and you’re playing for Tiger Woods, that’s pretty special.”
Also read: Tiger Woods sets sights on playing role in 2019 Presidents Cup
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