TEEING OFF: BRENDAN JAMES

IN THE hour or so after Tiger Woods finished 17th in his 18-man exhibition tournament in the Bahamas last month, he all but gave Australian golf the one-fingered salute.

When the 14-time major winner confirmed his Hero World Challenge tournament would be played in the week before the Presidents Cup, the same date already slated for the Australian Open, he virtually ensured our national championship will be devoid of any of his US team members and, perhaps, one or two International team members.

Back in 2011 when the Presidents Cup was last played at Royal Melbourne, the Australian Open was, again, the lead in week to the event. Then US Captain Fred Couples urged his team to play the Open to acclimatise and to make the travel immediately before the Cup less tiresome. Woods was among the American stars that contested the race for the Stonehaven Cup, alongside team mates Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan, David Toms and Couples.

In 2019, Golf Australia will again have a battle to assemble a field boasting star quality thanks to Woods and the PGA Tour, which doesn’t sanction Tiger’s event but interestingly includes it on its Tour schedule. The Tour has given Woods the green light to host his tournament when he wants, despite the fact it owns the Presidents Cup and would certainly benefit from the Americans being in Australia a full week before the matches begin.

But that won’t be happening. Instead, at least 10 of the 12 players on Tiger’s team will play in the Bahamas. You can probably add Jason Day to the list, given he has played five of the past eight editions of Tiger’s event.

I guess in Tiger’s world it’s all too easy. Play his tournament, jump on a private jet and sleep all the way (in a bed) to Melbourne. I would imagine there will be seats available for his team on his plane, as well as any others chartered to make the 21-hour haul across the globe.

I sincerely hope International Captain Ernie Els rallies his men to play in Sydney the week before. Obviously, Abraham Ancer is a big chance of making the team and would be here to defend his title. Hopefully, Marc Leishman, Cam Smith and Adam Scott can be added to the mix and then it’s a case of, who needs the Americans.

If anything, Woods’ plan to get to Melbourne less than 24 hours before the first day of practice might just swing the pendulum in favour of a second International win. We can only hope.

IN 2019, GOLF AUSTRALIA WILL AGAIN HAVE A BATTLE TO ASSEMBLE A FIELD BOASTING STAR QUALITY THANKS TO WOODS AND THE PGA TOUR