Woods picks himself to round out U.S. Presidents Cup team
He was the final one of four captain’s picks announced, but Tiger Woods ultimately selected Tiger Woods to become the first playing captain in the Presidents Cup since American Hale Irwin in the inaugural 1994 event.
“As captain, I’m going to choose Tiger Woods as the last player on the team,” he said.
Woods announced his picks Thursday night, adding himself, Tony Finau, Patrick Reed and Gary Woodland to the American team. The four picks will join the eight Americans who earned a spot on the team through the points system. The Presidents Cup will be played Dec. 12-15 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.
Finau was the first player announced and will be playing in his first Presidents Cup. He was a captain’s pick in last year’s Ryder Cup, where he went 2-1-0 for the Americans in a losing cause. Ranked 14th in the world, Finau was the top player not already on the American team.
“It was very satisfying to get the nod from Tiger and just have the opportunity to be with him and be with the guys and have the opportunity to win on foreign soil,” Finau said.
Finau also addressed Woods’ decision to be a playing captain.
“It is quite an epic thing for him to play well enough to select himself,” Finau said. “It was a no-brainer, but he proved to everyone that he deserved to play at Zozo and it’s going to an incredible Presidents Cup.”
Woods was a wire-to-wire winner at the Zozo Championship in Japan two weeks ago.
Reed was named next, ending any speculation that the man nicknamed Captain America for his success in international team play was in Woods’ bad books. At last year’s Ryder Cup, Reed made it known that he didn’t agree with the pairings, despite playing with his childhood idol in Woods. Reed is playing overseas this week and wasn’t available for comment Wednesday night.
Next up was reigning U.S. Open champ Woodland, who is the only captain’s pick who hasn’t played in a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup. The 35-year-old Woodland is a late bloomer after going to university on a basketball scholarship before focusing on golf. He is ranked 16th in the world.
“Tiger Woods is the most competitive person I know,” Woodland said. “He wants to win and that flows through the rest of the team. So we’ve got 12 guys going down there fired up, ready to go with one goal in mind and that’s to win.”
The powerhouse Americans passed over players such as Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Na and Kevin Kisner for the team. World No. 1 Brooks Koepka is recovering from a knee injury and should he be unable to go, Woods will have the opportunity to add another player. JMccarthy@postmedia.com