Couples: Tiger Must Play for Presidents Cup
|
U.S. captain Fred Couples wants Tiger Woods on his Presidents Cup team in Melbourne in November but there is a caveat:
Woods has to play tournaments before he shows up at the Australian Open a week before the matches.
Woods had a torrid time at the PGA Championship where he missed the cut at the Atlanta Athletic Club and failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The contest last weekend was only his second tournament in four months due to injuries to his Achilles heel and left knee.
His form has now left him ineligible for any PGA Tour event until the first week of October.
Couples will be entering his second stint as captain of team USA at the Presidents Cup on Nov. 17-20 against Greg Norman's International side.
Last time out was in 2009 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, where Couples' team had a comfortable win (19 ½ - 14 ½), Woods posting a 5-0 record in the competition.
"He [Woods] can't just show up the week before in Australia," Couples said Wednesday at the Senior Players Championship.
"I have made it clear that whoever I picked will be playing the Australian tournament the week before. But I need him to play more than just there. There are quite a few tournaments after the Tour Championship."
"I just don't know how he can sit there and think his game is going to improve," Couples added.
Woods said upon leaving the PGA Championship that he has plenty of time to work on his game, but he did not rule out playing more.
"For me to sit here and say I wouldn't choose (Woods) would be crazy," Couples said. "I just think he's great to have on the team. It would be a great boost for him and I don't think he would hurt the team. If anything, he would help the team. He may call up and say, 'I'm not ready.' But I doubt that."
|
Back to news list