Presidents Cup 2019: Tiger Woods tabs himself, surprises with Reed
Tiger Woods made his captain’s picks for the 2019 Presidents Cup official on Thursday, with just one of his picks coming as a bit of a surprise.
It seemed like a lock that Tiger Woods would pick himself for the Presidents Cup team, but would he? That question was answered Thursday evening as Woods picked himself as the fourth captain’s pick.
“As captain, I’m going to choose Tiger Woods as the last player on the team,” Woods said about himself. “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.”
He should talk to Tom Watson who was famous for talking about himself in the third person.
But we digress.
Tiger’s other picks were Tony Finau, Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed.
They were right off the points list with one exception and that was Rickie Fowler.
“That was a tough phone call. Rickie’s a good friend of mine, and I’ve known him for a long time. Kept it short and quick,” Woods said about the call. “He’s fresh off of his new wedding, his bride and honeymoon, and he’ll be focused, and he’ll start winning tournaments.”
Woods could hardly be expected to react to picking himself, but the others were definitely excited about making the team. None of them wanted to have to rely on a pick, but they were all thrilled to be on it.
“It was a goal of mine to start this season,” Finau said about being selected. “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 honored, honored to get that call from Tiger.”
Gary Woodland had pretty much the same feeling.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” he noted with enthusiasm. “I’ve been close to make a lot of teams, and I have never made one.”
Later on Golf Channel, he said he’d been measured for clothing for several teams, but this was the first time he would get to actually wear the clothes.
Patrick Reed was in China for a tournament where it was the middle of the night, and he must have had advance warning because he sent a statement that said:
“For me personally, I live for events like Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. I enjoy every moment of the competition and the fans and playing for our country. It means so much to me to be a part of this team. I’m going to do everything I can to help the U.S. bring home the Presidents Cup.”
Many wanted to know the process Woods that was used to convince Woods to pick himself.
“As far as concerning me as a player, Freddie (Couples), Zach (Johnson) and Strick (Steve Stricker) — they said, ‘You’re on the team, you’re playing,’” Woods explained.
He tried to back them off that decision. He wanted to test his knee by going to Japan, which would also test how the rest of his body took the travel.
According to Woods, Couples told him “You’re on the team. Quit being stupid.”
What convinced him was his victory in Japan.
“The ZOZO Championship was a big event, and it validated that I could go play, and I thought I could help the team,” Woods explained.
What might have kept him from picking himself was the travel and the potential unknowns for his back and his knee prior to the ZOZO.
“I had not played yet in a tournament after my knee procedure, and then traveling to Japan and playing in a championship, how it would respond,” he noted about his concerns. “But the long haul to Australia is very much like the one to Japan, and seeing how my body felt and how I reacted in Japan and how I was able to play, it certainly gives me a lot of confidence that it will hold up over the long haul down to Australia.”
Woods spoke to the strengths of the other three picks starting with Finau.
“He played in The Ryder Cup last year,” Woods said. “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. Everyone on this team wants to play with Tony. He can play either format, which is great.”
“Patrick will be making his third Presidents Cup appearance, and he has an amazingly solid record in The Presidents Cup,” Woods noted. “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.”
Regarding Woodland, Woods said, “What he displayed this year at Pebble Beach in winning the U.S. Open, that was awfully special, and we’ve all known the talent that he has had, and he’s just now figuring it out and putting it together, and we couldn’t be — he couldn’t have — a better, more competitive guy.”
Woods will be the first playing captain since Hale Irwin in 1994, and he knows it will be a challenge.
“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. Three great minds that will help ‘me when I’m playing,” Woods noted.
It sounded like he was also breaking news about a future role for Zach Johnson.
Woods has been a vice captain on two teams already and he said that will help him.
“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,” he said.
There are still a couple of unknowns. First is how many matches Woods will be able to play.
The Presidents Cup, like Ryder Cup, has three formats: fourball (better-ball), alternate shot and singles.
Woods only has to play two matches. One with a team format and the singles. He feels he can handle that, particularly with the support of his vice captains.
Second is the situation with Brooks Koepka’s knee, but as ever, Woods is already on it.
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“I did have coffee with Brooksy this morning,” he said. “All I can tell you is he’s rehabbing, and he’s trying to get better, trying to get ready, and let him focus on that.”
Woods wants Koepka to continue to put his energy into therapy and said he told Koepka, “When you start playing golf, let me know. But your rehab comes first before golf, and just keep me abreast of what the process is.”
According to Woods, they can replace a player Wednesday morning of the week, but if there’s a need they will act before that.
He expects to start finalizing the pairings Wednesday and declined to make any commitments about who he might select as his partner or what format he might play. One of 11, he joked about potential partners.
“When we start pairing up players, and that’s the tough part about it,” Woods said. “Sitting next to Fred when he gets all fired up doing that stuff, it is — it is one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had. Fred is the best at it, and it’s going to be fun having him there running through it. I can’t wait to hear him.”
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Couples, he noted, often makes funny comments under his breath during the picks, and Woods enjoys that most of all. To give you some idea, Couples was in the TV tower during a Tournament of Champions event in Hawaii one year, and after watching a surfer wipe out he said, “Facial.” Quick, to the point and hysterical. He can be very amusing.