MELBOURNE (Australia): Tiger Woods will lead a star-studded United States against the Internationals skippered by Ernie Els in the Presidents Cup biennial team match-play showdown at Royal Melbourne from December 12-15.
Assistant captain Geoff Ogilvy said Australians Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith and former number one Jason Day are frontrunners to take on Woods.
Australian Ogilvy, who played in three Presidents Cups, said all of the 12-man had put their hand up to face the 15-time major winner.
“Jason (Day) can clearly hang with Tiger and go down the stretch with him,” Ogilvy, who with Els was a member of the losing International team at Royal Melbourne in 2011, told the Melbourne Herald Sun.
Woods will be the first playing captain since American Hale Irwin in the inaugural 1994 Presidents Cup after giving himself a wildcard following his record-equalling 82nd US PGA Tour title in Japan last month.
He spearheads a formidable team that features the three of the world’s top four golfers in number one Brooks Koepka, third-ranked Dustin Johnson and number four Justin Thomas.
Els has a relatively inexperienced team looking to win the event for only the second time in its 25-year history. Their sole win came at the same Royal Melbourne venue in 1998.
“The American team look like a bit of a juggernaut but we’ve got a good young team,” Ogilvy told reporters at the course on Monday.
The Presidents Cup will open with five fourball matches on the Thursday, followed by five foursomes on Friday.
There will be four foursomes and four fourballs on Saturday with 12 singles to round out the competition on Sunday.
