MELBOURNE, Australia — Captain Tiger Woods is benching Tiger Woods for Day 3’s morning four-ball session of four matches. Suffice to say, it has nothing to do with his play, which has been nothing short of brilliant through the opening two days, but rather a tactical decision, Captain Woods said.
“That was the game plan,” said the 43-year-old Woods, who had knee surgery only a few months ago. “It would be hard for me to go all the sessions.”
Expect Woods to reunite with Justin Thomas, who together are 2-0, in the afternoon foursomes session. But Thomas will team with Rickie Fowler in the opening match (Match 11) against Marc Leishman and Haotong Li, who will be making his Presidents Cup debut after sitting on Thursday and Friday. Thomas and Fowler made a formidable tandem at the 2017 Presidents Cup, recording a 2-0-1 record.
In the next two matches, Woods stuck with a couple of tandems he clearly likes together. Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, who capped off a dramatic 1-up victory with a birdie on 18 on Friday, are paired against Sungjae Im and Team USA killer Abraham Ancer, who is 2-0, in Match 12.
PRESIDENTS CUP: Scores | TV info | Photos | Day 3 four-ball tee times
Woods also entrusted Patrick Reed and Webb Simpson, who are winless in two matches and have only led for one hole in their 34 holes of competition.
“They have played well. Unfortunately, they just haven’t won points. But they have done all the little things right. It’s just a matter of having things go your way,” Woods said. “They are excited about being with one another, and they have handled everything extremely well.”
Reed and Simpson’s opponents in Match 13 will be Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan in a rematch of Day 1 in which the Internationals won 1 up thanks to a clutch putt by Matsuyama on 17. International Team Captain Ernie Els finally trotted out a repeat team after having 12 different pairings and he went back to the well for his final pairing – Adam Scott and Ben An – who will face Matt Kuchar and Tony Finau.
With only four matches per session on Saturday, four players have to sit on both sides. Els benched Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Hadwin, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann. In addition to sitting himself, Woods benched Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland and Bryson DeChambeau, who is sidelined for a second consecutive session.
“Leaving four players out is very difficult because we all know that all 12 guys are very talented. They can all play,” Woods said. “They are part of this team and part of the squad. For guys on our team who have been part of Ryder Cups, it’s very difficult.”
As it must have been difficult for Woods to bench his best player through two days – himself.
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