The night before Captain Ernie Els selected his Captain’s Picks and for the most part there weren’t any serious surprises. Although, this writer still takes Corey Conners over Joaquin Niemann every time. Especially considering, when we’re talking about a difference of one spot in the OWGR and the year that Conners had. Uh-oh… Here I go again. Stop it Alex. Oh no, now I’m talking in the third person. Hey! Speaking of which.
Last night, from the cozy confines of The Woods in Jupiter, Florida Tiger Woods took to the camera and made his Captain’s Picks for the U.S. Team at the upcoming President’s Cup set to take place at Royal Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. I actually tuned in to catch the picks being made and I prognosticated my picks just before he made them. Apparently, the stream, however, was on a bit of a tape delay. My predictions were…
To be totally honest, I don’t know what made me think Fowler (perhaps past success in team events) but I know why I selected Na. The guy (love or hate him) had a seriously good campaign in 2019. As much as I was gung-ho on Conners for the International team I was more than that about Na for the American team. As we now know, when the dust settled the picks were Tony Finau (totally off of my radar), Woodland (well-earned with a good year and a Major title), Patrick Reed who apparently mended the right fences after the Ryder Cup fiasco and Tiger Woods himself.
We all know that Patrick Reed is the guy who can get under an opponent’s skin so he has value there along with a solid resume of winning points for his team. Maybe, I was watching the wrong golf but was his 2019 that good? Of course, I understand that the OWGR isn’t based solely on the current year.
But then there’s the somewhat curious pick of Tiger picking himself and then talking about himself in the third person. Twitter was abuzz about it. Honestly, it really wasn’t that comical and actually, you get used to it after a while. I get it though. He won The Masters, just finished winning his 82nd event at the ZOZO and ultimately is ranked 7th in the OWGR. ranking alone, yes he should have been there. But then Paul McGinley had a great point.
While Na is no spring chicken at 36 years of age if you go by McGinley’s Tweet and the reason for the task force wouldn’t you get a kid like Matthew Wolff, or Collin Morikawa a shot as “Wild Card” picks? Now hear me out. The International Team has only won on one occasion with one draw for good measure. Wouldn’t this have been a good litmus test based on the reason why the task force was set up in the first place? The President’s Cup while being a competition is no contest. If It were the Ryder Cup, I actually support Tiger picking himself. But he actually let on that he would likely play in minimal matches.
Maybe just maybe Tiger picking himself was a two-fold situation. Partially driven by the PGA of America to boost ratings and maybe… Just maybe an ego thing? Another feather in the cap of “The Legend of Tiger Woods”. Let’s be honest here. Him just being there as a Captain will mean that he’ll be on camera a lot. The broadcasting agencies could introduce us to “The Captain Cam”.. Great for viewers looking to see him. But Tiger as a Playing Captain will entice viewers more. Just food for thought.
Until The Next Tee!!
#fightandgrind #seeuonthenexttee
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