News
Latest > Tiger Calls Fred & Declares To Love
Oct 12th, 2015
Tiger Calls Fred & Declares To Love
Woodsy to be a Ryder Cup Assistant??
Words: Tim Southwell Photography: Getty Images
Halfway through the second day of four-ball matches in Friday's Presidents Cup, Tiger phoned up Fred Couples, who was serving as an assistant to Jay Haas. Tiger had been watching the Presidents Cup on TV and wanted to offer some support and ideas.
After chatting to Couples, Tiger asked to speak to Davis Love III, another Haas assistant and the U.S. captain for next year's Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.
"I thought I told you not to call me when I'm at work..."
The top and bottom of what followed was Tiger offering some advice to Love III about how the USA team could get the vital points needed in the Presidents Cup, but also to offer his services as an assistant for next year's Ryder Cup.
"I just want to be good again!!!!"
We'll all be hoping that Tiger can rediscover his form and give Love III a reason to pick him for the playing 12 at Hazeltine 2016, but if not, don't be surprised to see Woodsy smoking around Hazletine on a golf buggy with a walki talkie strapped to his noggin, and looking concerned as the USA try to win back the Ryder Cup which they've only won twice in the last 10 attempts.
Other than Tom Lehman, Love has yet to name his assistants for the 41st Ryder Cup, which the USA is desperate to win after a disappointing run of three straight losses, including last year's 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 defeat at Gleneagles. Woods, who is a member of the Ryder Cup task force formed in the wake of that loss, has volunteered to serve as an assistant to Love if he doesn't qualify for the team.
"Ok, you're in."
Woods, a 14-time major champion recently underwent his second back surgery in as many years, and will not play the rest of this year. Woods has not won since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and has fallen to 311th in the world rankings after occupying the No. 1 spot for a record 683 weeks.
Tiger was recently written off by TV commentator Nick Faldo who claims that the greatest player of our generation will never win another major.
Love, who captained the U.S. team that lost in 2012 at Medinah, where the Europeans overcame a four-point deficit the final day, said the call from Woods shows how serious he is about helping the U.S. turn around its fortunes to mirror the success it enjoys in the Presidents Cup. America improved to 9-1-1 with its one-point victory Sunday over the International team.
"He [Woods] was watching at home and he just had to call," Love said. "He was talking about all the things he thought we needed to do, and he had a lot of ideas. We're already doing a lot of planning for next year, and it's great. It's part of the whole process that started after Gleneagles. Everybody is thinking about it, which is great."
"This way to Hazeltine!!"
Love said the next task for him is naming assistant captains. Woods is a candidate, among many, if he doesn't qualify for the U.S. team. "But we're not waiting around for that. We've already been doing a lot of planning," Love said. "And Tiger is just as interested as the rest of us to get going."
