Advertisement

Tiger Woods, who went 3-0 as Presidents Cup captain, bet on himself and won

liz roscher
Staff writer

Tiger Woods, first-time captain of the United States’ Presidents Cup team, chose himself to fill one of the four wild-card spots back in November. It was the first time a captain had ever picked himself as a wild-card, and it’s a bet that paid off.

Over the weekend at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, the U.S. team won 16-14, with Woods himself going 3-0. What made the win ever sweeter was that the U.S. had to stage a comeback on the final day — the first Sunday comeback in Presidents Cup history.

There were certainly younger golfers who could have gone in Woods’ place, and ones with fewer recent injuries. Woods had knee surgery in August that caused him to miss two months, and he was only able to get back into competition in October.

With a recent surgery looming over him, would he be healthy enough to compete? Would he be an asset to his team, or a liability? Even with his win at the Zozo Championship in late October — which tied the record for career PGA Tour victories — there had to be someone Woods was overlooking in favor of himself, right?

No one knows Tiger like Tiger, though. He knew he was ready for it, and he was right. He won two points on Sunday (including the very first one of the day), which brought him to a perfect 3-0 for the tournament, and gave him the all-time record for Presidents Cup match wins. He was feeling so confident as he finished his final match of the day that he even took off his hat as the ball was dropping in the hole.

He didn’t just celebrate himself, though. As a first-time captain, he lived and died with every point, and had big smiles and bear hugs for his teammates when it was over.

After the U.S. sealed its come-from-behind victory, Woods held back tears.

“We did it together. We came here as a team,” Woods said, via Golfweek. “My teammates and my boys all played well. The captains did an amazing job of being there of just being there for every little detail. I couldn’t have done it with all of their help. All of my boys. They did it.”

Golf is a solitary sport, and Tiger has a lot of solitary wins. At the Presidents Cup on Sunday, Woods got to share in the victory with his teammates, a rarity in golf.

“I’ve cried in pretty much every Cup we’ve won,” he told Golfweek. “I’ve been doing this a long time. Any time you have moments where you’re able to do something that is bigger than us as an individual, is so much more meaningful and so much more special.”

More from Yahoo Sports: