Tiger Woods Nominated Team USA Captain For 2019 Presidents Cup

Tiger Woods and Ernie Els have been named the captains for the 2019 Presidents Cup that will take place in Australia.

Woods will lead Team USA, while Els will lead the International Team at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club from Dec. 9-15 next year. The duo served as assistants to Steve Stricker and Nick Price respectively in the 2017 edition, which the United States won 19-11 at the Liberty National in New Jersey.

Woods and Els will be captaining their respective teams for the first time but are no strangers to the Presidents Cup, having played in the event eight times each. The former is the only player to have won the cup on three occasions, having holed the winning putt for Team USA in 2009, 2011 and 2013, while the latter’s only success came when the cup was shared in 2003 after the two teams tied at 17-17 and Woods and Els could not be separated after three playoff holes in the sudden-death.

The duo were pre-nominated by their captains — USA’s Arnold Palmer and South Africa’s Gary Player in 2003 — in case of a sudden-death and with the match tied, they were called upon to settle the tie. However, they were unable to get the better of each other after three holes and with fading light, it was decided the cup will be shared – the only time a match has ended in a tie.

“Ernie Els and Tiger Woods have each been part of the fabric of the Presidents Cup as competitors and as ambassadors to the event,” PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said, as quoted on Presidents Cup’s official site. “Ernie carries the flag for international golf as a legendary figure both on and off the golf course, while Tiger has been one of the most transcendent athletes the sport has ever seen.”

Team USA lead the head-to-head 10-1 since the inception of the biennial event in 1994, but in 2019 they will be returning to the venue which yielded the International Team’s only win thus far. Els will be hoping to get one over his old rival Woods, who admitted it has always been a dream of his to captain the team at the Presidents Cup.

“This is a huge honor for me," Woods said Tuesday as he prepares for the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida, as quoted on Sky Sports. "This is something I've always wanted to do, I've always wanted to be a captain, and I'm very fortunate to have been given this opportunity."

Woods served as the vice-captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2016 under Davis Love III and was again nominated as an assistant to Jim Furyk for the 2018 edition of the tournament to be held at Albatros Course of Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, from Sept. 28-30.