Tiger wings in to sort Presidents Cup mess

TIGER Woods finished the World Challenge on Sunday and headed to Australia to promote the Presidents Cup as the US captain.

It’s the same schedule he faces next year, with one big difference.

Woods will have 12 players with him, and he could be a playing captain.

It leads to a messy schedule that could affect two tournaments — his unofficial World Challenge, an 18-man field of players from the top 50 in the world, and the Australian Open, which was hopeful of a strong field a week before the Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.

The Presidents Cup will run December 12 to 15, the latest it has ever been played.

Woods confirmed week that the World Challenge would be played the week before. Beyond that, details remain unclear.

“There are so many things that are up in the air,” Woods said after he closed with a oneover 73 and finished 17th out of 18 players.

“One of the logistical things I’m trying to figure out is try to get where there’s like eight to 10 guys, plus four, five more ... you’re getting close to 50 people from the Bahamas to Australia in time for a practice round, opening ceremonies and the event.

“We have our work ahead of us trying to logistically try to make this all happen.”

One person involved in the event said the plan was to end the World Challenge on Saturday next year, possibly early in the afternoon.

That would allow the American contingent time to take a charter to Melbourne, arriving Monday morning.

Mark Steinberg, Woods’s agent at Excel Sports Management, said he hoped to have an announcement when Woods returned from Australia.

The Presidents Cup features an American team and an International team from everywhere but Europe.

There were 12 Americans in the field this year in the Bahamas along with Australia’s Jason Day and Hideki Matsuyama of Japan.