Report: Woods, Els to captain Australia Presidents Cup
Tiger Woods and Ernie Els will duel in the Presidents Cup again, this time as captains.
Woods and Els have agreed to be captains for the 2019 matches in Melbourne, Australia, according to two people involved in the Presidents Cup. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the captain selections have not been announced.
They are expected to be introduced today at the Arnold Palmer Invitational near Orlando, Florida.
Woods has been heavily involved in team event while not playing in recent years because of back injuries. He was an assistant to Steve Stricker in the Presidents Cup last year, and he already has agreed to be a vice captain at the Ryder Cup this fall in France for the second straight time.
The development first was reported by the blog Morning Read.
The Presidents Cup, which began in 1994 and was patterned after the Ryder Cup to give international players from outside Europe a chance to compete, has been one-sided since the start. The International team's only victory was in 1998 at Royal Melbourne.
Els was the logical choice to be the next International captain, following three stints by Nick Price. One person with knowledge of the decision said Woods reached out to the PGA Tour about his interest in being the next captain.
Woods and Els are certain to inject some life into the matches, from their own relationship and history, and from the most intense moment in Presidents Cup history.
The 2003 matches ended in a tie at 17 at Fancourt in South Africa, the home country of Els.
The rules then were for a player from each team to have his name placed in an envelope, and they would play sudden-death to decide the Presidents Cup.
Els and Woods matched par on the first extra hole. Els had to make a 12-foot par putt on the next hole to extend the playoff. In gathering darkness that made it difficult to read putts, Woods holed a double-breaking, 15-foot par putt on the third extra hole. Els had to make from 6 feet to match him.
When it was too dark to continue, and both teams on the green were debating what to do, captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to share the cup.