Tiger Woods is ready to lead the USA Presidents Cup team

It only took several hours after putting out for a thrilling runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship for Tiger Woods to make some more unexpected news. Woods and Ernie Els will be the 2019 USA Presidents Cup captains in Melbourne, according to an Associated Press report Monday morning. The two rivals will be announced as the leaders of the USA and International teams during a press conference Tuesday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The writing was on the wall for Els to be named the next International captain following their blowout loss at Liberty National last fall. But the Woods announcement comes as somewhat of a surprise and seems a bit soon for the 42-year-old who now looks like he could have a real shot at qualifying for next year’s Presidents Cup team.

Woods was certainly within the circle of trust that’s been established in the assistant captain ranks on the American side in these recent team competitions. It’s a group that’s included a rotation of Woods, Fred Couples, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, and Davis Love III at its core. All of those players have served as either captains or assistant captains multiple times in the Ryder and Presidents Cups. They’re part of a formula that the US thinks they have overhauled on the Ryder Cup side, and will continue to use for success in the Presidents Cup.

With Woods being a part of that group, and given his history as arguably the GOAT, there was no doubt he would eventually serve as the American skipper for both team cups. But this seems a bit soon. He’d joined the assistant captain ranks because he was hurt and couldn’t compete. Now he’s healthy and will be only 43 when the Presidents Cup is played next year.

From all accounts, Woods has been a driving force as a captain in these team competitions. You’ll hear Phil Mickelson, Love, and every American player constantly heap praise on the way Woods throws himself into these events now. He was apparently the brains behind much of the USA’s strategy at the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, their first win since 2009. This has not been some ceremonial role. It was honestly extremely cool to hear about Woods getting so deep into these as an assistant captain and taking so many young players under his wing. Even a cynic had to appreciate the way Woods seemed to embrace the role and interact with the team as a leader. It even turned Woods and Mickelson into bros.

Now he’s the head man for an event that could really use a competitive resuscitation. Unlike the Ryder Cup, the US has absolutely owned this event. The Internationals have won just once in 12 tries since the event was founded in 1994 and the last iteration in 2017 was an historic blowout. Els and Woods have a history in it though, with the two trading blows in an epic playoff match that had to be called due to darkness in South Africa in 2003. It’s the one and only tie in the event’s history and one of the few moments of real competitiveness.

Els, of course, was one of the primary contemporaries of Woods and claims playing during the Woods era messed him up mentally at times. He’d likely have several more majors if he’d played in another era.

Because of the uncompetitive nature, there may be some tension and negotiation over rules and format for the 2019 event. That was certainly a topic of discussion and contention between both sides during the post 2017 blowout press conferences. So that could create some Els-Woods drama, although probably all behind the scenes in the run-up to 2019.

One of the bigger questions this triggers is where Woods will now slot in as the Ryder Cup captain, the much more prestigious and competitive match play event. Furyk is the skipper for this year in France. Stricker will likely be the man when it swings to his home state of Wisconsin in 2020. There’s wide speculation that Mickelson will captain the US side for the home game in 2024 at Bethpage in the New York market where he’s loved. Those are both somewhere between educated and speculative guesses.

That would leave the 2022 Ryder Cup in Rome as a possible spot for Woods to lead the US side in the far more intense team event. The Americans have not won on European soil since 1993, a drought they will try to end this fall in Paris. Whether it’s 2022 or some other year that Woods serves as Ryder captain, it’s likely we’re entering an era where the system promotes repeat captaincies. Woods, as well as Mickelson, are the obvious kind of legends who would be worthy of multiple captaincies in both the Ryder and Presidents Cups. First up is the Cat in Melbourne next year.

Here’s a quick history of the Presidents Cup, as well its captains: