Tiger Woods Can Have Any Role He Wants at the Presidents Cup, Says Davis Love III
Davis Love III is the host this week for the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia, and it didn't take long for him to get asked about Tiger Woods and the 2022 Presidents Cup during the pre-tournament media conference.
The short answer from Love, who will captain the American team in 2022: Tiger Woods can have any role he wants on the team, from player to assistant captain, to captain.
Love III was joking about Tiger being the captain, we think, but there's some truth there because of the oversize role Tiger plays in any event. He was a playing captain on the victorious 2019 American team. The 2022 Presidents Cup is Sept. 20-25 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Here's the full exchange from the media session, which also includes a Phil Mickelson question:
Question: Davis, congrats on all your success there. Just was wondering if you could put on your Presidents Cup hat for just a quick second here. What role do you think Tiger is going to have in that Presidents Cup? I know it's early, but could you foresee him being — helping you out as an assistant captain? And then secondly, Phil is in the news a lot these days. He's winning a lot on the Champions Tour, he's got a great record at Quail Hollow. Could you foresee Phil actually potentially even playing on that team?
DAVIS LOVE III: Yes, I'll just say yes to all that.
I put my Presidents Cup hat on walking across the driving range to get to the press conference because Andy Pazder from the Tour stopped me and told me four or five Presidents Cup things.
We're totally focused on Presidents Cup. We're excited about Charlotte. Johnny and Deborah Harris were here this weekend and ran into my wife, Robin, and said, "Make sure you remember that we have a guest house and that you can come up anytime you want." They made me an honorary member of the club, so we're definitely focused on the Presidents Cup hat.
You know, Tiger, I think we pushed — it would have been a great captaincy for Tiger to continue on. At the time we were discussing it, he said, "No, I'm playing really good, I'm gonna make the team, and I enjoyed Australia being playing captain, but I want to be a player on the team." So his role is whatever his role wants to be. If Tiger calls me up and says, "Hey, you're kicked out, I'm taking over," that's Tiger's role. If he wants to be an assistant, you know.
I would hope that he comes back and starts playing and can make that a goal, to be on the team. He was a big part of our Ryder Cup. It took us a while to get him to the point where he would engage. Obviously he had a rough start to the year, but once we got him in the loop, he was a big help and a lot of fun for the Ryder Cup and for the team. Obviously the guys were going to see him down there in south Florida all summer, but leading up to the Ryder Cup, obviously he had a watch party at his house. He can do whatever and I know he'll be a big part of it.
And then Phil, I told Phil, "Hey, we don't know what's going on with some of these players," leading up to the Ryder Cup. Brooks was hurt. I said, "You better be ready to play, not put a radio on. Last minute, we may need you."
I think Charlotte, yes, I would look at Phil right now more getting ready to play. I think he can have a big year on the PGA Tour. Obviously when he pops out on the Champions Tour he's a favorite and I think he's got the best winning percentage on the history of the Champions Tour. He hasn't won as many as Hale Irwin, but win-per-start, he's doing awfully well like Furyk. I would look for Phil as a player right now, yes, more than anything.