Fred Couples jokingly asked Tiger Woods for a big favor after being appointed captain of the United States Presidents Cup team: Make the team so Couples wouldn’t have to waste a captain’s pick on the world’s No. 1 player.
What he didn’t tell Woods were the expectations Couples had for him at Harding Park in San Francisco.
“I needed him — this is going to sound stupid — to go 5-0,” Couples told The Associated Press.
Woods did just that, including clinching the Cup on Sunday and getting at least a little revenge on Y.E. Yang, who became the first player to rally against Woods in the final round of a major, beating him at the PGA Championship this summer.
“He got me there, and I figured I could get him here,” said Woods, who capped the week with a 6-and-5 victory over the South Korean. “It certainly was not exactly the same atmosphere, but then it still was an important point.”
The United States cruised to win 19 1/2-14 1/2 and leads 6-1-1, including 5-0 on home soil, since the Presidents Cup began in 1994.
