In a nod to the exhibition that the Presidents Cup is, U.S. and Internationals captains Fred Couples and Greg Norman are giving fans what they want: an early tilt between Tiger Woods and Adam Scott.
Sure, Steve Stricker and KJ Choi will be on hand in the foursome match as well, as Woods’ and Scott’s partners, respectively. But it’s a set-to between Tiger and the golfer who has No. 50’s former bagman in tow that people have wanted to see since Steve Williams popped off after his new boss’ Bridgestone Invitational win in August. Then, of course, there was the controversy after Couples chose Woods for the U.S. squad and Williams’ offensive dig at the former No. 1 two weeks and newly unveiled interview in which he said he wished he had dumped Woods before the sex scandal, and there was no way the two skippers would not pit Stevie’s ex vs. his current.
"I think it worked out awesome for everybody involved to have Adam and Tiger play," Couples told PGA Tour.com’s Mike McAllister. "As we said all along, they are still very good friends, and I think it’s an exciting match."
Norman concurred, denying (wink, wink), that he and Couples rigged the pairings to ensure the three men were at center stage. "I think it’s great for the tournament," he said. "It needed to be done. It played out the way it played out. There wasn’t any premeditation by it."
While Woods and Williams cleared the air before last week’s Australian Open, the camera will still feast on the first public meeting between the two since the former fired the latter and Williams took on the role of caddie scorned. Norman, for one, expected all three actors to stow the histrionics once they reached center stage.
"I think at the end of the day, the guys in that last group will be the consummate professionals and go out and play the game of golf representing their International Team and the U.S. Team the way they should do," he said.
So, with all the hand-wringing about Freddie leaving PGA champ Keegan Bradley off the U.S. roster in favor of the winless Woods, this is what it’s all about: TV ratings and entertainment. Even fellow players applauded the final pairing, according to McAllister.
"I think everyone is kind of pumped for it," said Aussie Jason Day of the Internationals.
"Interesting," was how Jim Furyk of the U.S. twice described the match-up. "I think it’s probably a pairing that y’all have been talking about for two weeks now since we were in China and it was probably a matter of time before it happened. So just want to get it out of the way right off the first."
Couples made the final and inevitable call when he named Hunter Mahan and David Toms as the twosome to oppose K.T. Kim and Y. E. Yang in Thursday’s penultimate match. But it was Captain Greg who put Williams in his place.
"I have not even had a conversation with Steve Williams," Norman said about whether the looper lobbied for the joust. "His job is to carry Adam Scott’s bag and doesn’t matter whether they are playing Tiger Woods or not."
Norman was, however, a tad disingenuous when he said that the captains just wanted to get the marquee grouping out of the way and move on.
"It’s a dead issue as far as we are concerned," he said. "There’s no animosity between any of the players or any of the issues have taken place.
"I know it’s good fodder. People like to talk about it in the media," he noted. "But from our perspective, it’s dead and gone, and we would like to keep it that way going forward."
Given the enjoyable nature of the biennial contest that has none of the history but many of the big American names against international players not eligible for the Ryder CUp, we’re guessing Norman and Couples would like to have a Woods v. Scott/Williams in every match. For sure, Golf Channel, which will televise the proceedings, would. With Wednesday’s broadcast of Thursday’s match running from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. EST, watch for Woods v. Scott to light up your HDTV Wednesday night at 10:05.
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