Shortly after Tiger Woods announced he’d play in the first match of the Presidents Cup with partner Justin Thomas and paired lightning rod for controversy Patrick Reed with Webb Simpson, the two captains were asked if there was a choice or moment that gave them the most hesitation.
“None,” said International Team captain Ernie Els, who wore glasses for the captains’ pairings and teamed five of his seven rookies with experienced vets.
As for Woods, he squinted his face and said, “I didn’t hear the question.”
When it was repeated for his pleasure, Woods made sure there was no confusion in his answer.
“There was zero hesitation here,” he said.
Then he stared a hole through the questioner. Captain Woods officially has his game face on.
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Other than exuding a great sense of confidence in the selections that they made, neither captain revealed anything of great import. In fact, they would have been hard-pressed to reveal any less. Both Els and Woods declared that they had “systems” and “plans” and if we are to believe their words everything went according to plan. They sounded a lot like fantasy football owners in the moment after the draft before the season all goes wrong. Only one of these great champion will feel triumphant on Sunday.
The Round 1 pairings for Thursday morning were announced Wednesday afternoon at Royal Melbourne. It began with Woods deferring the first choice. Els then announced the selections of Australian Marc Leishman and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann.
Woods countered with Justin Thomas and himself, announcing “Tiger Woods” into the microphone.
Afterwards, Woods explained that it was always the plan for him go off in the first match, and that Steve Stricker, the 2017 U.S. Presidents Cup captain and 2020 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, will handle captain duties while he’s on the course.
“It was important for me to get out there as a player, but also as a captain, I want to obviously see my guys play,” Woods said.
From there, the captains alternated picks, 10 in all for the five four-ball matches. It was a mild surprise that Woods paired the even-keeled Patrick Cantlay, who had teamed with Reed at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, with fellow Presidents Cup rookie Xander Schauffele, in Match 2 against Canadian Adam Hadwin and South Korea’s Sungjae Im.
Match 3 may present the best matchup for the International Team on paper as Aussie Adam Scott will partner with rookie Ben An against Bryson DeChambeau and Tony Finau, who both have team experience from the 2018 Ryder Cup but are making their Presidents Cup debut.
Woods waited until Match 4 to enlist Reed, who is expected to hear plenty from the Aussie fans after his rules gaffe last week at the Hero World Challenge. Woods paired him with Simpson, who said of Reed yesterday, “He brings fire. He brings confidence. He loves to compete. I think seeing his fire, whether we’re watching live or you’re playing with him, it gets you going a little bit.”
TEAM USA: Meet Tiger Woods’ squad
INTERNATIONALS: Meet Ernie Els’ team
When asked if he always planned to pair Simpson with Reed or if it was a reaction to the recent firestorm of criticism resulting from his penalty for improving his lie in a waste bunker, Woods kept his cards close to his vest.
“We’ve had options for each and every player,” he said. “They have given their opinion of who they think is best suited for him, and it’s more than just one option. We’ve had numerous options for each and every player, in case different scenarios happen as the week goes on. Those two are excited to play with one another.”
In Match 5, Dustin Johnson and reigning U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland bring plenty of ammo in their matchup with Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa and Abraham Ancer.
As a result, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar will cheer from the sidelines for Team USA on the opening day, and Haotong Li and Cameron Smith for the International Team.
It will be important for the International Team to get off to a fast start. They haven’t led after the opening session since 2005.
“Whoever is out there, it’s the most important match of the week for them. We have to get off to a good start,” Scott said. “Our team doesn’t need to be chasing its tail out here. We don’t need to be mounting a huge comeback.
I certainly have spent the last four or five weeks since I played in China thinking about how I’m going to be ready to play on Thursday. I think it’s very important for us.”
First-round pairings
Match 1: Marc Leishman-Joaquin Niemann (Internationals) vs. Justin Thomas-Tiger Woods (U.S.)
Match 2: Xander Schauffele-Patrick Cantlay (U.S.) vs. Adam Hadwin-Sungjae Im (Internationals)
Match 3: Adam Scott and Byeong-Hun An (Internationals) vs. Bryson DeChambeau-Tony Finau (U.S.)
Match 4: Webb Simpson-Patrick Reed (U.S.) vs. Hideki Matsuyama-C.T. Pan (Internationals)
Match 5: Abraham Ancer-Louis Oosthuizen (Internationals) vs. Dustin Johnson-Gary Woodand (U.S.)
This leaves Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar on the sidelines for Team USA on the opening day, and Haotong Li and Cameron Smith for the International Team.
The Day 1 four-ball format works as follows: Each team consists of two players and each golfer plays his own ball. The lower score among the side is counted for each hole.
Overall, there will be nine matches of foursomes, nine matches of four-ball and 12 singles matches. Each match is worth one point. It takes 15.5 points to win the Presidents Cup.
The Day 1 action starts 9:30 a.m. local time on Thursday (5:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday). Golf Channel’s live TV coverage starts at 5:30 p.m.
Following Thursday play, the captains will announce pairings for Friday.
