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Tiger, ex-caddie paired for opener
Source: Agencies |
November 17, 2011, Thursday
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THE Presidents Cup wasted no time delivering the match everyone was talking about - Tiger Woods against ex-caddie Steve Williams in the opening session at Royal Melbourne.
US captain Fred Couples and International captain Greg Norman, hopeful of putting an end to a three-month soap opera involving Woods and Williams, put them together in the last of six foursomes matches today.
"I think it's great for the tournament," Norman said. "It needed to be done."
Lest anyone forget, Williams will be carrying the bag of Adam Scott, not hitting any golf shots. On paper it will be Woods and Steve Stricker, undefeated as a tandem two years ago at Harding Park, against K.J. Choi and Scott, the popular Australian who hired Williams after Woods fired his caddie of 12 years in July.
For sheer drama, it's more about Woods and Williams.
It will be the first time they have been in the same group of any tournament since Woods officially fired him in late July. Norman expects nothing but a good match between four players, with four other guys carrying their bags.
"I'm sure Freddie and I, everybody, we want to put this behind us," Norman said. "It's a dead issue as far as we're concerned. There's no animosity between any of the players. I know it's good fodder. People like to talk about it in the media. But from our perspective, it's dead and gone."
In Shanghai, Williams labelled his former employer as "black a------."
Williams later apologized.
Norman and Couples said the match wasn't planned, although both could have chosen to avoid it. In the Presidents Cup, each captain takes turn putting his team in one of the six matches. With each match that was announced, anticipation kept building until it came down to Couples.
Norman had put K.T. Kim and Y.E. Yang in the fifth match. Couples could have inserted Woods and Stricker, but instead went with Hunter Mahan and David Toms. That sealed it. "Who's left?" US assistant captain Jay Haas as the room filled with laughter.
Norman said he did discuss it with Scott, and with his two assistant captains. The idea was to get it over with.
"If we had to diffuse anything and just get this thing over and done with, wouldn't you rather have it sooner than later?" Norman said. "Because I personally wouldn't have wanted to be sitting down at the singles and everybody is playing a really tight match and it comes down to the last group or the second to last group, and all of this pressure is coming on because it's the first time the two met."
"Adam and Tiger are good friends," Norman said. "It's got nothing to do with Adam and Tiger, and at the end of the day, the atmosphere that will exist walking to the first tee will be exactly the same if none of this took place in the past week."
US captain Fred Couples and International captain Greg Norman, hopeful of putting an end to a three-month soap opera involving Woods and Williams, put them together in the last of six foursomes matches today.
"I think it's great for the tournament," Norman said. "It needed to be done."
Lest anyone forget, Williams will be carrying the bag of Adam Scott, not hitting any golf shots. On paper it will be Woods and Steve Stricker, undefeated as a tandem two years ago at Harding Park, against K.J. Choi and Scott, the popular Australian who hired Williams after Woods fired his caddie of 12 years in July.
For sheer drama, it's more about Woods and Williams.
It will be the first time they have been in the same group of any tournament since Woods officially fired him in late July. Norman expects nothing but a good match between four players, with four other guys carrying their bags.
"I'm sure Freddie and I, everybody, we want to put this behind us," Norman said. "It's a dead issue as far as we're concerned. There's no animosity between any of the players. I know it's good fodder. People like to talk about it in the media. But from our perspective, it's dead and gone."
In Shanghai, Williams labelled his former employer as "black a------."
Williams later apologized.
Norman and Couples said the match wasn't planned, although both could have chosen to avoid it. In the Presidents Cup, each captain takes turn putting his team in one of the six matches. With each match that was announced, anticipation kept building until it came down to Couples.
Norman had put K.T. Kim and Y.E. Yang in the fifth match. Couples could have inserted Woods and Stricker, but instead went with Hunter Mahan and David Toms. That sealed it. "Who's left?" US assistant captain Jay Haas as the room filled with laughter.
Norman said he did discuss it with Scott, and with his two assistant captains. The idea was to get it over with.
"If we had to diffuse anything and just get this thing over and done with, wouldn't you rather have it sooner than later?" Norman said. "Because I personally wouldn't have wanted to be sitting down at the singles and everybody is playing a really tight match and it comes down to the last group or the second to last group, and all of this pressure is coming on because it's the first time the two met."
"Adam and Tiger are good friends," Norman said. "It's got nothing to do with Adam and Tiger, and at the end of the day, the atmosphere that will exist walking to the first tee will be exactly the same if none of this took place in the past week."
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