Tiger selects himself with 1 of 4 Presidents Cup captain's picks
Tiger Woods named himself, Gary Woodland, Patrick Reed, and Tony Finau as his four captain's picks to join the United States Presidents Cup team headed to Australia.
Woods will become the second playing captain in Presidents Cup history. He proved his health and form by claiming PGA Tour title No. 82 at the Zozo Championship in October. This will be the ninth Presidents Cup appearance for Tiger.
Woodland is set to represent the USA for the first time in his career. The 16th ranked player in the world won the 2019 U.S. Open to boost his stock. Since 1996, no American who won the U.S. Open failed to play in the Presidents Cup that same year.
After sporting a 2-1 record at last year's Ryder Cup, Finau will make his Presidents Cup debut at Royal Melbourne. He missed out on an automatic qualifying bid by one spot.
Reed was given the nod over the likes of Rickie Fowler, Kevin Kisner, and Kevin Na. "Captain America" hasn't missed a team event since 2013 and boasts an 11-6-4 combined record in Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup matches.
Here is the final roster for the United States' team:
- Brooks Koepka
- Justin Thomas
- Dustin Johnson
- Patrick Cantlay*
- Xander Schauffele*
- Webb Simpson
- Matt Kuchar
- Bryson DeChambeau*
- Tiger Woods
- Gary Woodland*
- Tony Finau*
- Patrick Reed
* Denotes Presidents Cup rookie
The Americans have won 10 of the 12 Presidents Cups contested, tying once and losing at Royal Melbourne in 1998.
The 2019 competition begins Dec. 12.