Steve Stricker’s Presidents Cup future thrown into doubt

The Presidents Cup (Nov. 17-20) was always going to be a drama-filled event, but following Steve Stricker's comments about his availability ... let's just say things got a whole lot more interesting.

Stricker, who pulled out of the BMW Championship to get a cortisone shot to alleviate the pain in his neck, hasn't noticed a considerable improvement in his game at the Tour Championship.

While he's been trying to tough it with an outside chance at the $10 million FedEx Cup prize, the lack of power on his left side has been so frustrating that Stricker's considering the possibility of not playing in the Presidents Cup, in an effort to get healthy.

"There's no question I want to be there," Stricker told the Associated Press. "I just want to get better. That's the frustrating thing. And I've got to look out for next year. I just feel beat up."

Stricker has an MRI set for Tuesday to take a closer look at the injury, but the way things are going at the moment, the loss of power in his game has him at a crossroads.

"I'm this close to saying, 'Let's do surgery' so I can feel good," Stricker said. "I think this has been going on for a while."

This is probably the last thing Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples wants to hear with the event less than two months out. Stricker has been a big part of the the last two U.S. victories in the event, and was instrumental in 2009 when he and Tiger Woods posted a 4-0 record at Harding Park.

Couples already penciled Tiger in as a Presidents Cup captain's pick; however, if Stricker can't go, you have to wonder if Couples would consider backing out of the decision. Woods' game has been in disarray of late, so the thought of pairing him with Stricker and hopefully building Woods' confidence seemed liked a great idea.

But a Stricker-less President Cup team could change that plan. For the moment, we'll just have to wait and see what Tuesday's MRI says before speculating further.