Tiger completes first practice session at Presidents Cup
Tiger Woods went through his first practice session on Tuesday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, in preparation for the 10th Presidents Cup between the United States and an International team comprised of the world’s top non-European players. He played about 10 holes with Jason Dufner, Matt Kuchar and assistant captain Davis Love III.
This marks Tiger’s eighth appearance in The Presidents Cup, and he has an overall record of 20-14-1. Woods is 5-9 in four-ball (best-ball), 10-3-1 in foursomes (alternate shot) and 5-2 in singles.
The Americans have dominated the competition and own a 7-1-1 mark, their lone loss coming in 1998 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.
Unlike The Ryder Cup, which lasts three days, The Presidents Cup is played Thursday through Sunday. On Thursday, six four-ball matches will be held; on Friday, there will be six foursomes matches; on Saturday, there will be five four-ball matches, followed by five foursomes matches. Finally, on Sunday, there will be 12 singles matches.
On Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, U.S. captain Fred Couples and International captain Nick Price will announce their lineups for Thursday’s four-ball matches.
Asked if he had a preferred playing partner, Tiger said, “Whoever is playing well. Whoever can carry me is great.”
In 2011 at Royal Melbourne, Woods played with Steve Stricker once and lost in Day 1 foursomes. He played the next three matches with Dustin Johnson, and the duo went 1-2.
“I’ve had all different types of partners,” Woods said. “It’s just a matter of trying to gel that week. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t.”
The 12-member U.S. team also includes Keegan Bradley, Bill Haas, Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Stricker.
The International team consists of Angel Cabrera, Jason Day, Graham DeLaet, Brendon de Jonge, Ernie Els, Branden Grace, Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Louis Ooshuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Richard Sterne.
Tiger has a great track record at Muirfield Village Golf Club. He is a five-time winner of the Memorial Tournament, most recently last year. His other victories came in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2009.
Woods led the PGA TOUR in wins this year with five. Last Friday, he was selected PGA TOUR Player of the Year by his peers for the 11th time in his career.
After competing seven of the previous 10 weeks, and finishing second in the FedExCup Playoffs, Tiger took last week off and didn’t touch a club until Friday.
Asked how he spent his time, he cracked, “I chased around a 6- and 4-year-old,” referring to his daughter Sam and son Charlie.
