Woods, Els likely to battle in Australia Presidents Cup
Tiger Woods and Ernie Els will duel in the Presidents Cup again, this time as captains.
They agreed to be captains for the 2019 matches in Melbourne, Australia, according to two people involved in the Presidents Cup who 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 events 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 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. 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.
Highest PGA ratings in 5 years: Tiger Woods was one shot away from a chance to win, and the PGA Tour had its largest television audience in five years. NBC Sports Group says the final round of the Valspar Championship earned a 5.11 overnight rating, up 190 percent over the previous year and the highest-rated PGA Tour broadcast since Woods won The Players Championship in 2013. That doesn’t include the majors. Woods was one shot out of the lead going into the final round.
USGA, R&A announce new rules: Golf now has a modern set of rules for the Royal & Ancient game, an extensive overhaul that is aimed at making rules easier to understand. The R&A and USGA announced the final version Monday. They take effect in 2019.
Among the changes: how to take penalty drops — from knee-high length starting next year, instead of shoulder height. There no longer will be penalties if a golf ball accidentally moves on the green, if a club touches the ground in a hazard or if the ball hits a flagstick that is not being tended on the green. Also, caddies can no longer line up their players while they are setting up over a shot.
This is the most comprehensive change to the rules since the first set was published in 1744.
Sunday’s Games Monday’s Games
Hurricanes at Rangers: Late Golden Knights at Flyers: Late Jets at Capitals: Late Canadiens at Blue Jackets: Late Senators at Panthers: Late Blues at Ducks: Late
Canucks at Kings: Late
Red Wings at Sharks: Late
NHL notes
Jets: Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg’s top center, remains out with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss tonight’s game at Nashville. Coach Paul Maurice said he’s going to be cautious with Scheifele with the playoffs a month away. Scheifele also sat out Monday’s game at Washington. The team has not said if this is the same injury that kept him out 16 games earlier this season. Maurice also said backup goaltender Steve Mason is out two to three weeks after having a knee scoped, and defenseman Dmitry Kulikov has been sent back to Winnipeg with his upper-body injury.
Race to 50 goals: Patrik Laine knows where he stands. The Winnipeg Jets winger might not keep track of each time Alex Ovechkin or Evgeni Malkin scores, but he knows how many goals they have.“I just sometimes look at the scoreboard and the score sheets,”Laine said.“I always pretty much know where’s everyone at.”Laine is tied with Ovechkin at 40 goals atop the NHL and is looking to reach 50 for the first time in his career at age 19 and win his first Rocket Richard Trophy. Ovechkin, at 32 years old, is 10 away from his eighth 50-goal season and could win his seventh goal-scoring title.