After two wins, Tiger will sit out Day 3’s Four-Balls session
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MELBOURNE, Australia – After two successful sessions as a player, U.S. Team captain Tiger Woods will rest Saturday morning at the Presidents Cup.
Woods did not insert himself into the lineup for the four morning Four-Balls matches at Royal Melbourne. Instead, he’ll stay 100 percent focused on captaining his team in hope of rallying from a three-point deficit.
Even though he’s playing well – he’s been the best American player thus far, as he and partner Justin Thomas have two of the three U.S. match wins this week – Woods said it was not a difficult decision to sit out.
“That was kind of the game plan,” said Woods, who tied Phil Mickelson for most Presidents Cup match wins with 26 after he and Thomas won 1-up over Byeong Hun An and Hideki Matsuyama. “It would be hard for me to go all the sessions. I’ve been fortunate enough to go out there with J.T. and we’ve gotten two points.”
Woods has a good alternative for Thomas, partnering him with Rickie Fowler for Four-Balls. Thomas and Fowler played three matches together two years ago at Liberty National, winning 2.5 points.
“They’ve been looking forward to playing with one another,” Woods said.
With just four matches in each session on Saturday, Woods has to sit out four players at a time. It’s conceivable he comes back for the afternoon Foursomes session, especially if the Americans need a boost. Woods is 12-4-1 in Foursomes in his Presidents Cup career.
All players, of course, must participate in Sunday Singles.
Woods has leaned heavily on his three assistant captains – Steve Stricker, Fred Couples and Zach Johnson – to manage the team while he’s been playing.
On Thursday, Woods’ match finished first, so he went into captain mode for the other four. On Friday, though, Woods’ match was the fourth to finish, so the only match he watched was Rickie Fowler and Gary Woodland rallying to tie Sungjae Im and Cameron Smith.
“I've been very fortunate to have had three of the most amazing vice captains,” Woods said. “They have all been there, done that, have seen it, and their commitment to this, I couldn't have done this without them. I wouldn't have accepted this role without them.”