Tiger wary of Aussie reception
GOLF: Presidents Cup captainelect Tiger Woods is anticipating a hostile Australian crowd for his American charges at the 2019 event in Melbourne.
Woods was yesterday officially announced as the head of the American team, while Ernie Els will captain the Internationals at Royal Melbourne.
It will be the third time the celebrated sandbelt layout has hosted the biennial teams event, after staging the 1998 and 2011 editions.
The Americans captured their 10th title of the heavily lopsided series in New York last year in front of raucous local support.
But Woods (pictured) expects Melbourne crowds to return the favour if the Internationals side is again populated by several Australian golfers.
“You could see that happening if you foresee the team being (Marc Leishman) and Jason (Day), Adam (Scott) and maybe another couple of core Aussies,” Woods said.
“The Internationals team has been very difficult to beat there.”
Els, who played on the only victorious Internationals side at Royal Melbourne in 1998, called on fans to vocalise their support to give the Cup a much-needed boost in atmosphere.
“It’s a home game for us so we would like to think that we’re going to have the majority of the support and the crowd can really get behind us,” he said.
Els, an eight-time playing member of the Internationals, called for sweeping changes to the Presidents Cup after the Internationals lost their seventh straight title last year.
Four-time major winner Els’ demands seemed to be met, with several tweaks to be debuted next year. Four captain’s picks, up from two, will now join eight qualifiers when the teams are finalised after the 2019 Tour Championship.