Presidents Cup title a fitting conclusion to memorable 2019 for Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods already had a 2019 for the ages. Then we went out and led the American team to a come-from-behind win in the Presidents Cup

The U.S. Presidents Cup team, down by two points to the Internationals, sent out their best player to begin the Sunday singles session. That the player was Tiger Woods perfectly encapsulates what a wild, wacky, and unforgettable 2019 it’s been in golf.

Woods’ resurgence to the top of the golfing world reached a perfect climax when he beat Abraham Ancer in his singles match, opening the singles portion of the Presidents Cup with a key point for the Americans in their goal of orchestrating a comeback at Royal Melbourne. When Woods first took on the challenge of captaining Team USA in March 2018, he was ranked 149th in the world, without a win in five years, and major-less for a decade.

But over the past 20 months since being named captain, Woods has accomplished a number of things: a Tour Championship title; his fifth Green Jacket at the Masters; and his 82nd PGA Tour victory at the Zozo Championship to tie Sam Snead. One thing he hadn’t done in his already legendary career was captain a winning team, but he can now cross that off his bucket list.

It started with his match. The Americans came to Royal Melbourne as big favorites against the seemingly over-matched Internationals. Team USA was the best ever assembled, with 10 of the top-20 players in the world; the Internationals, by contrast, were the youngest team in Presidents Cup history and were relying on seven rookies. Ernie Els’ International team also had the burden of history, having not won the trophy since right here at Royal Melbourne in 1998.

But through the first three days, the Internationals took it to the Americans. They went 4-1 on Thursday. After Saturday’s opening session they still led by four points, their biggest lead at that stage of the event since 1998. Heading into Sunday singles, the Internationals led Team USA 10-8 and needed only 5.5 of 12 points to win the title for the first time in 21 years.

Then Woods began his match with Ancer. The 28-year-old Mexican openly expressed his desire to go head-to-head against Woods last month. He got what he asked for, with Woods never trailing in a 3&2 victory. When he faced a 20-foot birdie putt at the 16th with a chance to close out the match, Woods hit it so purely that he was already taking off his hat and walking toward Ancer before the putt dropped in.

Woods the player did his job. Now it was the time for Captain Woods to go cheer on his team. Tony Finau came back from four-down through 10 holes to tie Hideki Matsuyama. Patrick Reed erased memories of his pitiful performance the first three days—both on and off the golf course—by quickly going six-up on C.T. Pan before winning 4&2. Rookie Xander Schauffele beat the most experienced International player, Adam Scott. And when Matt Kuchar made a short birdie putt to win the 17th hole against Louis Oosthuizen, ensuring he would do no worse than earn a half-point, the Americans had clinched the title for the eighth straight time 16-14.

The pleasure of the moment was evident in Woods’ face. There were joyful hugs with each of his teammates and vice-captains. He went into the crowd to take selfies with American fans who made the long journey to Australia. There were tears and big smiles all around. For Woods, to do it as both a player and as a captain made the moment a special one.

“It’s the same feeling. We won. We did it together,” he said afterward. “I’ve been apart of teams before where we have won. Also been apart of, unfortunately, this Presidents Cup when we lost 21 years ago. So to come here and do it in this fashion, to do it with this team in particular, it was an honor for me as a player and even more of an honor to be their captain.”

Woods went 3-0 as a player this week, his first perfect team competition since 2009. He’s now the all-time points leader in Presidents Cup history, passing Phil Mickelson. The United States is 10-1-1 in Presidents Cup history. Kuchar has now been around for five of those victories and says Woods’ presence inspired the team to go out and make history.

“It was pretty awesome to play for the greatest player ever,” Kuchar said. “To have a chance to make a team captained by the greatest player ever that is also a player on the team. I can’t tell you how unique, how cool of a thing that is. To not only play for him but alongside him. For us, to be in a hole, to come back and win this thing was such a thrill. Wanted to win it as a team, but to do it with Tiger Woods as captain was such a huge thrill.”

Woods was playing this week with teammates like Justin Thomas (with whom he went 2-0 in foursomes) who grew up idolizing him, a new generation of players for whom the time when he dominated the sport was a distant memory. They would say, ‘“There is Tiger Woods. He was the greatest.” After the year he’s had, you can change the word “was” to “is.” Even on the verge of his 44th birthday, Woods is still the most captivating player in golf and capable of being the most dominant.

See you in 2020.