Woods in earlier Presidents Cup Media Conference – file
MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia – Tiger Woods says he will consult his assistants and players before any decision on whether he picks himself as a player for December’s Presidents Cup in Melbourne.
Despite his fairy tale comeback win in The Masters in April, Woods fell out of the top eight spots that would have earnt him automatic selection onto the U.S. Team for the event at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club this December.
The top eight qualifiers on both the U.S. and International teams are now locked in with the world’s best golfers headed to Melbourne for the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Woods, the U.S. Team captain will lead a stellar group headed by world No.1 Brooks Koepka with a team all inside the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking and a combined 11 PGA TOUR victories this season.
Meanwhile, Ernie Els will lead the International Team seeking to win the Presidents Cup for just the second time, led by Australians Marc Leishman and Adam Scott along with Cameron Smith, who will make his Presidents Cup debut and experienced South African Louis Oosthuizen.
However, each team has four captains picks still in their pocket, so the door is open for woods to return to Royal Melbourne for the third time as a player in the Presidents Cup and his first as playing captain. The only previous playing captain in Presidents Cup history was Hale Irwin in the inaugural event in 1994.
“My job as the captain is to put together the best team possible and try and put together the best 12 guys,” Woods said via teleconference from the U.S.
“That’s what I’m trying to do. We’ll be going through the whole process of having open communication with our top eight guys and my vice captains.”
“That is something that we will certainly talk about, whether I should play or not play. Ultimately, it’s going to be my call whether I do play or not as the captain. But I want to have all of their opinions before that decision is made.”
The 43-year-old’s season ended this week at the BMW Championship after fell outside the top 30 players who qualified for the TOUR Championship, the tournament he famously won a year ago at East Lake Golf Club.
After winning the Masters in spectacular fashion in April, his 81st TOUR win and 15th major championship, Woods only played six more events this season.
Despite the lack of play, he has told his team that he expects himself, and everyone else, to stay sharp in the lead up.
“We talked about how important it is to be committed to the team and to the event and to each other, and that means playing and being prepared,” Woods said.
“The only time that we have ever lost a Cup was in Australia (1998), and quite frankly, some of the guys didn’t play or practice that much. It was our off-season, and we got beat pretty badly.
“It’s something that I try to reinforce to the guys, that it is important to be solid, be fresh, and to be sharp because we’re going overseas and we’re playing against an amazing team, and it’s on their soil. These guys are going to be tough to beat. So we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
With Woods schedule to play only a handful of times between now and December, he will rely on practice at home in Florida and pick-up matches with teammates. He will play the ZOZO Championships in Japan from Oct. 24-27 before his picks are due the following week.
“It’s practicing, it’s playing, it’s staying sharp. Obviously, I’m playing in Japan, and so that’s going to help,” Woods said of his own preparation.
“It has to do with a lot of my competitions I’m going to have down here. I’ll be playing with a lot of the guys here. They’re going to be getting ready for some of the fall events, we’ll have some matches, and that’s always fun because we’re able to talk trash and have a great time and try and get in one another’s pockets.
“That will be something that I will definitely rely on, and obviously the event in Japan will be a big deal.”
Others in line for the call-up include, but are not limited to Tony Finau, U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play winner Kevin Kisner, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and young guns Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff.
The four selections will join Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau in what is one of the most powerful U.S. teams in the events history.
Led by Ernie Els, and featuring Australians Marc Leishman, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith, the Internationals have vowed to use new tactics, based on analytics, to try to topple the U.S. juggernaut.
The U.S. Team has a 10-1-1 record in the Presidents Cup, not losing since 1998 at Royal Melbourne.
But Woods won’t allow complacency. He hopes most of his team will play in the Hero World Challenge he hosts in the Bahamas the week prior before heading to Melbourne to further secure comradery and form.
“We could be (beaten), yes, in theory. But you have to look at the fact that it’s played out there on the golf course, not on paper,” Woods said.
“I’ve been a part of some pretty amazing teams over the years. We had a pretty solid team going down to Australia in ’98. We’ve had some pretty solid teams in Ryder Cups, as well, and I’ve been on the losing end of those. It’s played out on the course. So that’s something that I’ve told my players.”
The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for just the third time, from December 9-15, 2019.
Quayle 6th behind Ishikawa in Japan
Anthony Quayle file photo courtesy of NZPGA
Gold Coast based Northern Territorian, Anthony Quayle, has finished in a share of 6th at the Japan Golf Tour’s Shigeo Nagashima Invitational SEGASAMMY Cup in Hokkaido, the second season Japan Tour player continuing to impress in the early stages of his professional career.
Quayle’s finish moves him to 22nd on the 2019 Japan Tour money list and sets him up well for the run of lucrative events between now and the end of the season.
Quayle recorded nine birdies in his final round of 6 under par 66 allowing him to move from 20th overnight to his 6th place seven shots behind the winner and defending champion, Ryo Ishikawa, who finished four shots clear of Juvic Pagusan of the Philippines.
For Ishikawa it was his second win in succession having won the Japan PGA Championship seven weeks ago prior to the Japan Tour taking a break and he now takes the lead over Jazz Janewattananond in the 2019 money list.
Matthew Griffin finished as the next best of the Australians when he shared 26th place in his first event since the arrival of his first child a few weeks ago.
The Japan Tour now heads south to Fukuoka for the KBC event in the north of Kyushu.
Scott Treads Water in Atlanta
Scott needs a big finish over final 36 holes
Brooks Koepka has moved into a one-shot lead through 36 holes at the Tour Championship in Atlanta in Georgia, a second consecutive round of 67 taking him clear of Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy as the race for the riches of the FedEx Cup heats up.
A birdie at his final hole allowed Koepka to establish an important break heading into the weekend after struggling through much of his closing nine holes.
An approach from 240 yards set up a two-putt birdie from 10 feet and the world number one is on track to win not only his first Tour Championship but the huge $15 million bonus for taking out the FedEx Cup.
Koepka was always one to keep in perspective the new format of the event and was again asked about his thoughts after his round.
“Yeah, everybody makes a big deal about it,” said Koepka. “But most of the time when we tee off on Thursday, we’re already six, seven behind because the morning wave is done. It’s not a big deal. You just go out there and try to close that gap, and I’ve done a good job with that.”
Xander Schaffele is in 5th place on his own at 11 under and two from the lead with Paul Casey at 9 under in 5th place alone.
Adam Scott trod water on day two, a round of even par 70 having him in 10th place and eight shots from Koepka.
Marc Leishman continued his recent indifferent form and is in 28th place in the 30 player field.
Jason Scrivener close to lead at Scandinavian Invitation
Jason Scrivener click to expand
Yesterday it was Wade Ormsby who flew the Australian flag high when leading the Scandinavian Invitation after an opening round of 62 in Gothenburg in Sweden and today Jason Scrivener produced another low round (63) to move into a share of 4th place and three shots off the lead of Matthew Fitzpatrick at the halfway mark.
The eight-birdie effort moved Scrivener up 31 positions on the leaderboard and after a season which has seen not one top twenty in 12 starts since a 5th place at the Vic Open in February it was a welcome return to contention for the 30-year old West Australian who has yet to win on the European Tour.
Ormsby was unable to repeat yesterday’s heroics but managed a round of 71 to be tied for 6th place just one shot behind Scrivener, ensuring a lot of Australian interest during the weekend.
Nick Cullen and Brett Rumford are the next best of the Australians in 32nd place, while Adam Bland, Min Woo Lee and Deyen Lawson share 48th place.
Dimi Papadatos and Sam Brazel missed the cut by one shot.
The leader, Fitzpatrick, is back playing after a three-week break and is delighted where things are at with his game.
“It’s been a great the past two days. Everything going to plan so not sure what else to say.
“This summer has been really big for me in a lot of things. I have struggled the past three or four summers, and not had the results I have wanted or what I was working for, and this year we have been a little bit different.
“I think a lot of it has just been the way I have been feeling with my swing. I was only talking to Mike Walker the other day, we have done probably three things all year in working on my swing in terms of maintaining it for where it is. In previous years I can think of range sessions where I’ll go and I can’t feel that, I can’t feel that, and you just go round in circles.
“This year has been different, I wanted to prepare mentally, and I wanted to make sure we stuck to one process, along with the other stiff that we do on the range and it has definitely been better.”
Mixed Fortunes for Adam Scott at Tour Championship
Adam Scott makes solid start despite two double bogeys – file
While there was a concern by many that one of the PGA Tour’s flagship events, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, might have appeared a little gimmicky in its new format, by the completion of day one of the season-ending event it is already shaping as one of the tighter contests of the year.
With players’ standing entering the event handicapped to reflect their position on the FedEx Cup points list, there was a feeling that the event might have been seen as a backward step in trying to retain the credibility of a contest which is essentially designed to establish the champion of the season.
With a leader-board now stacked with the game’s best, three players in the lead and ten players within four shots in the 30 man field, however, the remaining 54 holes should see one of the great shootouts of the season with not only this title at stake but the huge FedEx Cup bonuses available to all those who have made it into the elite field.
Justin Thomas, who started the day with a two-shot advantage courtesy of his lead in the FedEx Cup series, Xander Schauffele and Brook Koepka shared the lead at 10 under, Rory McIlroy one shot back and Matt Kuchar and Patrick Cantlay at 8 under and tied for 5th.
There is, though, a host of high-quality players stacked up behind them and if today is any reflection on just where this even might go in the next few days then the elite field if sure to provide plenty of excitement.
Adam Scott is the best of the two Australians in the field, an opening round of 68 having him at 5 under although two double bogeys today proved very costly.
Scott made a nice start with two early birdies before the first of the doubles came at the 8th when pulling his tee shot into the water. He appeared to be recovering nicely with an excellent birdie at the 10th but then made a mess of the 11th when taking four to get down from alongside the green at the par 3.
He would bounce back with three birdies in his last six holes and is well enough placed despite the hiccups.
Marc Leishman is at 1 over and in 23rd place in the 30 player field although an eagle at the last was at least a good way to finish.
Day Out for Ormsby and Bland in Gothenberg
Ormsby in action today – Getty Images
Australia’s, Wade Ormsby, has the opening-round lead at the Scandinavian Invitation in Gothenburg in Sweden, but was joined in what was an enjoyable day for South Australians by Adam Bland, who holed a seven iron from 154 metres on the tenth hole to win a Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI 4 Motion.
Ormsby, who other than a runner-up finish at the Vic Open in February has struggled for much of the 2019 season, played his opening nine in 6 under 28 suggesting a score even lower than his eventual 62 was possible.
He continued to play well over the closing nine but just two further birdies resulted in a round of 8 under and a one-shot lead over Joakim Largergren and Alexander Levy.
Pre-tournament favourite, Matthew Fitzpatrick, is another shot back at 6 under.
Ormsby made an early birdie at his 3rd hole (the 12th of the layout) but it would be a stunning eagle at the 14th that gave his round a huge boost and the momentum to finish his opening nine powerfully with birdies at his 7th, 8th and 9th holes.
“I made a pretty straight birdie on 12,” said Ormsby. “Then on 14, I was in between a five and a four iron, picked the right one and boxed it, so then I just got a bit of momentum through the final holes. I felt quite comfortable out there, I was holing my return putts and that kept the round going, which added up to 62.
“I felt like I had been hitting the ball quite well, I just wasn’t quite free enough in my putting, so I was working hard on that to get back to a point where I feel more comfortable and less into my technique. Putted well today, didn’t putt amazing, but holed what I needed too.”
Fitzpatrick has won this event previously although not at this venue but, as the highest world ranked player in the field, he started the week as a likely contender and thus far it has worked out that way despite a break of three weeks since his last event.
“Very pleased,” said Fitzpatrick. “I was a little apprehensive coming into the week as I just had three weeks off, and you don’t know what you are going to be dealing with when you have had a bit of time off, but it was a great start to the week.
“It is one round out of four for this week, so still a long way to go, but another three of them would be very nice. I’ll just keep doing what I am doing and keep putting myself into good positions, and that is all you can do really.
“Really scrambled well today. I missed a handful of greens and really got up-and-down when I needed too and that kept the momentum going in the round.”
Min Woo Lee opened with a round of 67 to be the next best of the Australians, Dimi Papadatos and Jason Scrivener 69 and Adam Bland and Brett Rumford 70.
Day, Leishman, Smith to Play Australian Open
The announcement today that Jason Day will be in Sydney later this year for the Australian Open is welcome news for both the event itself and Australian golf.
Day will join Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith as three of Australia’s leading four golfers in the field, the notable absentee being Adam Scott who has not played Australia’s flagship event since 2016 but will play the Australian PGA Championship the following week.
While not yet confirmed in the International side for the Presidents Cup, Day is expected to join Scott, Leishman and Smith in that team once final captain’s picks are announced and Australian golf fans are likely, therefore, to get to see Day play in Australia for the first time since 2017 when he finished 5th behind the surprise winner Cameron Davis.
Day first played the Australian Open as a 17-year old amateur in 2004 when he finished a very credible 22nd at the Australian Golf Club.
His best finish in the years since, when he has played, was when 4th in another Presidents Cup year in 2011.
Day missed out on making it to the final of the FedEx Cup Playoffs having been eliminated at last week’s BMW Championship and while only recording five top tens with a best of 5th in 18 starts on the PGA Tour season his presence in Sydney will be much anticipated.
“It’s the tournament we all grew up watching and I’ve said before that I want to win a few of them, so there’s no better time to start than December,” Day said.
“I nearly got one at The Australian a couple of years ago and it’s a course that really sets up well for me.”
Leishman has seldom played his national open in recent years but the incentive of being able to combine this trip with his role as one of the leading players in the International Presidents Cup side has no doubt been a great attraction.
Smith, on the other hand, has been a regular at the Australian Open and has often performed well including when runner-up to Jordan Spieth At Royal Sydney in 2016.
Given the success of all three golfers in international golf in recent years their involvement is expected to bring a significant dynamic to the event to be played from December 5th -8th at the Australian Golf Club.
Golf Betting Analysis for August 22nd
There are many events on which golf betting is being played out this week but we focus on the Tour Championship in Atlanta, the LPGA Tour’s CP Women’s Championship in Ontario in Canada, the Scandinavian Invitation in Sweden and the Korn Ferry Tour’s Boise Open in Idaho.
Click below to listen
Japan Tour Returns Following Summer Break
Brendan Jones again leading the Australians in Japan – file photo – click to expand
Following its traditional midsummer break, the Japan Golf Tour returns to action this week when the Shigeo Nagashima Invitational Sega Sammy Cup is played at the North Country Golf Club near Sapporo in Hokkaido.
The Japan Tour has not played a domestic event since the Japan PGA Championship completed on July 7th and won by Ryo Ishikawa and now the remaining 16 events on the 2019 Japan Golf Tour are to be played in consecutive weeks between now and early December.
Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond begins the second half of the season as the leader of the 2019 money list having a victory and three other top five finishes to his name in just seven Japan Tour events to date.
The highly talented 23 year old has, however, played several other events around the world including a victory at the Korean Open, a top five finish at the New Zealand Open and an impressive 14th place finish at the US PGA Championship.
Australasians in this week’s field include the current leading Australian on this year’s money list, Brendan Jones, who won early in the season, new father, Matthew Griffin, Won Joon Lee, Brad Kennedy, Anthony Quayle, David Bransdon, Dylan Perry and New Zealander, Michael Hendry.
Consensus to Decide Tiger Woods’ Presidents Cup Final Role
Woods in earlier Presidents Cup Media Conference – file
MELBOURNE, Victoria, Australia – Tiger Woods says he will consult his assistants and players before any decision on whether he picks himself as a player for December’s Presidents Cup in Melbourne.
Despite his fairy tale comeback win in The Masters in April, Woods fell out of the top eight spots that would have earnt him automatic selection onto the U.S. Team for the event at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club this December.
The top eight qualifiers on both the U.S. and International teams are now locked in with the world’s best golfers headed to Melbourne for the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Woods, the U.S. Team captain will lead a stellar group headed by world No.1 Brooks Koepka with a team all inside the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking and a combined 11 PGA TOUR victories this season.
Meanwhile, Ernie Els will lead the International Team seeking to win the Presidents Cup for just the second time, led by Australians Marc Leishman and Adam Scott along with Cameron Smith, who will make his Presidents Cup debut and experienced South African Louis Oosthuizen.
However, each team has four captains picks still in their pocket, so the door is open for woods to return to Royal Melbourne for the third time as a player in the Presidents Cup and his first as playing captain. The only previous playing captain in Presidents Cup history was Hale Irwin in the inaugural event in 1994.
“My job as the captain is to put together the best team possible and try and put together the best 12 guys,” Woods said via teleconference from the U.S.
“That’s what I’m trying to do. We’ll be going through the whole process of having open communication with our top eight guys and my vice captains.”
“That is something that we will certainly talk about, whether I should play or not play. Ultimately, it’s going to be my call whether I do play or not as the captain. But I want to have all of their opinions before that decision is made.”
The 43-year-old’s season ended this week at the BMW Championship after fell outside the top 30 players who qualified for the TOUR Championship, the tournament he famously won a year ago at East Lake Golf Club.
After winning the Masters in spectacular fashion in April, his 81st TOUR win and 15th major championship, Woods only played six more events this season.
Despite the lack of play, he has told his team that he expects himself, and everyone else, to stay sharp in the lead up.
“We talked about how important it is to be committed to the team and to the event and to each other, and that means playing and being prepared,” Woods said.
“The only time that we have ever lost a Cup was in Australia (1998), and quite frankly, some of the guys didn’t play or practice that much. It was our off-season, and we got beat pretty badly.
“It’s something that I try to reinforce to the guys, that it is important to be solid, be fresh, and to be sharp because we’re going overseas and we’re playing against an amazing team, and it’s on their soil. These guys are going to be tough to beat. So we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
With Woods schedule to play only a handful of times between now and December, he will rely on practice at home in Florida and pick-up matches with teammates. He will play the ZOZO Championships in Japan from Oct. 24-27 before his picks are due the following week.
“It’s practicing, it’s playing, it’s staying sharp. Obviously, I’m playing in Japan, and so that’s going to help,” Woods said of his own preparation.
“It has to do with a lot of my competitions I’m going to have down here. I’ll be playing with a lot of the guys here. They’re going to be getting ready for some of the fall events, we’ll have some matches, and that’s always fun because we’re able to talk trash and have a great time and try and get in one another’s pockets.
“That will be something that I will definitely rely on, and obviously the event in Japan will be a big deal.”
Others in line for the call-up include, but are not limited to Tony Finau, U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed, World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play winner Kevin Kisner, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and young guns Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff.
The four selections will join Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau in what is one of the most powerful U.S. teams in the events history.
Led by Ernie Els, and featuring Australians Marc Leishman, Adam Scott and Cameron Smith, the Internationals have vowed to use new tactics, based on analytics, to try to topple the U.S. juggernaut.
The U.S. Team has a 10-1-1 record in the Presidents Cup, not losing since 1998 at Royal Melbourne.
But Woods won’t allow complacency. He hopes most of his team will play in the Hero World Challenge he hosts in the Bahamas the week prior before heading to Melbourne to further secure comradery and form.
“We could be (beaten), yes, in theory. But you have to look at the fact that it’s played out there on the golf course, not on paper,” Woods said.
“I’ve been a part of some pretty amazing teams over the years. We had a pretty solid team going down to Australia in ’98. We’ve had some pretty solid teams in Ryder Cups, as well, and I’ve been on the losing end of those. It’s played out on the course. So that’s something that I’ve told my players.”
The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for just the third time, from December 9-15, 2019.
Presidents Cup Teams’ Leading Qualifiers Confirmed
Marc Leishman tops Internationals’ list
Eight players have secured their place in the International Presidents Cup team, three of them Australian with the final four captain’s picks to be made in early November, providing the opportunity to select the most in form players to complete the team.
Marc Leishman , Adam Scott and Cameron Smith have finished inside the lead eight qualifiers determined by the top eight (8) international players from the Presidents Cup International Team Points List which shall be Official World Golf Ranking points accumulated in the time period from August 27, 2018 (Dell Technologies Championship) through August 18, 2019 (BMW Championship).
Leishman, Scott and Smith, will be joined by Hideki Matsuyama, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer, Li Haotong and C.T Pan are the confirmed eight to take on an American side that look considerably more credentialed on paper at least.
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau make up the confirmed eight for the American side and the comparison between the relative strengths of the sides makes for interesting reading.
Seven of the eight Americans are in the top twenty of the current world ranking compared to just one, Adam Scott, in the International side.
The Presidents Cup takes place from December 12th – 15th December at Royal Melbourne.