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Tiger Woods has so far been coy about the number of matches he intends to play at next week’s Presidents Cup. Considering the form he has displayed at the Hero World Challenge – particularly in firing a bogey-free 66 in the second round – the playing captain would be wise to slot himself into the lineup frequently.
Woods is the first man to take on the role of Presidents Cup playing captain since Hale Irwin did it in 1994, the year of the inaugural matches. For the record, Irwin played three times that year, appearing in the foursomes lineup each of the first two days before going out in the lead singles match against Robert Allenby on the final day. His record was 2-1 (which included a singles victory over Allenby).
“I’m playing a minimum of two [matches],” Woods said Thursday with a smile. “Does that help you?”
There’s obviously much more to it than that, though.
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Woods has brought on three assistant captains in Fred Couples, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson (the former two being past Presidents Cup captains themselves). The question is how, exactly, they’ll fill in when Woods is on the course competing, particularly when it comes to giving advice.
The Presidents Cup rulebook states that when it comes to “any counsel or suggestion that could influence a player in determining his play, the choice of a club or the method of making a stroke, each team may appoint one person who may give advice to members of that team. Such person must be identified to the committee before giving advice.”
These stipulations reflect the wording in the Rules of Golf section that covers team competition (Rule 24) and the procedures regarding the creation of a local rule that allows for an “advice giver.”
A report by Golf Channel has cleared up some of the details about how much (and when, exactly) Woods’ assistant captains can take over while he’s competing. The PGA Tour sent this response to a Golf Channel inquiry:
“The captain needs to advise the chief referee before the start of each round who has the advice. The captain may switch the person during the round. For example, if Tiger is planning to play, he would need to advise rules before the matches start who has the advice. After he finishes, he could switch back if he wanted.”
Add those particulars to a long list of other details Woods must address as the captain.
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