07tiger and the presidents cup
fred couples has said for the better part of this year that he will pick tiger woods
for his u.s. presidents cup team if tiger’s injuries keep him from qualifying on
merit. but now that it’s almost time to make those selections, couples is having
second thoughts, saying he would like woods to play somewhere before he travels
down under for november’s australian open, one week before the presidents
cup. “this is my chance to hold my rank above him one time. and i’m going to do
it,” said couples. “i’ve got to push him to play a little bit so he’ll do a little bit better.”
strong words from couples. and the right words, we might add. but it remains to
be seen if woods will follow the captain’s advice or ignore it. woods already opted
out of playing last week’s wyndham championship and declined colin mont-
gomerie’s offer to play in this week’s Johnnie walker championship at gleneagles,
where monty is tournament chairman. if tiger continues to turn down playing
opportunities, couples has his out—not to mention other candidates to make his
team: pga champion keegan bradley is only 18th in the standings (see the list
here), but if he’s left off he would be a bigger omission than woods. the biggest
lesson learned from couples’ comments might be for future captains to not “com-
mit” to slumping or injured players early. if freddie hadn’t publicly picked tiger
months ago, he wouldn’t have to de-select him now. —John Antonini
daVid cannon/getty images
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