Woods enjoys laid back Nicklaus Cup captaincy

MONTREAL: Tiger Woods is looking forward to another Presidents Cup week under the relaxed captaincy of Jack Nicklaus.

Golfing great Nicklaus will lead the Americans at Royal Montreal Golf Club for a fourth time in their biennial team competition against the Internationals.

"Jack has traditionally just let us play," world No 1 Woods said during a teleconference on Monday.

"He gets out of the way. He says: 'Go prepare how you normally prepare for an event.' We have certain team things and certain team rules that we have on his teams.

"But he's very lenient. More than anything, he says: 'Just go get prepared to play.' It's been more hands-off than anything else."

Woods, appearing in his fifth Presidents Cup, played under 18-times major winner Nicklaus in Australia in 1998, in South Africa in 2003 and in the US in 2005.

The Americans triumphed on only one of those occasions at Lake Manassas, Virginia, in 2005 when the entire US team was determined to shine for its captain.

"You want to play for him and you want to be on the team that he captains," said Woods, whose win-loss-half record at the Presidents Cup is 10-9-1.

"When he does speak, everyone listens because he is the greatest player of all time. You always want to hear what he's going to say.

"But he doesn't speak very often, which makes it very interesting. It's not a rah-rah atmosphere. It's very serious, very focused but also just a lot of fun."

The Americans have dominated the Ryder Cup-style competition against the Internationals, winning four times and battling to a 17-17 draw in South Africa four years ago.

Their only defeat came in 1998 when the event was staged in Melbourne.

The seventh Presidents Cup starts on Thursday with the opening six foursome matches.

Strong Target

Tournament host Tiger Woods has announced a strong field featuring 11 of the world's top 20 players for the year-ending Target World Challenge.

Woods heads a 16-man line-up that also includes fellow Americans Jim Furyk (ranked third) and Steve Stricker (fourth) and British Open champion Padraig Harrington of Ireland (seventh).

"I truly appreciate the support of my fellow golfers and friends," Woods said on Monday.

"The player and fan support is the reason why this event is the success that it has become as we enter our ninth year.

"All the players have committed to play and this is going to be another fantastic event," added Woods.

"I'm really looking forward to competing and hopefully being able to win the tournament. I take great pride in having an opportunity to play in Southern California and raise funds for kids of my foundation."

The $5.75 million Target World Challenge will be held at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California from December 13-16.

Agencies

(China Daily 09/26/2007 page24)