Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

As captain of the team that will represent the United States in the Presidents Cup in December, Tiger Woods will select four players to round out the 12-man squad. And in a blog posted on the tournament website, he didn’t hide the fact that he wants to be one of his picks.

“While I was disappointed to not earn one of the top 8 spots, I’m hopeful to perform well at my next start in Japan,” Woods wrote. “In the meantime, I’m going to rely on playing with some of the guys in Florida to stay sharp. I’ll practice hard, work on my game, and we’ll have some matches. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also always fun.”

Another tell that he is leaning toward choosing himself for the Presidents Cup team? He signed his blog post with his name followed by: “U.S. Team Captain [crossed out] Playing Captain”.

Woods, 43, won The Masters in April but injuries limited him to just six tournaments after that. He missed the cut at The Open Championship and the PGA Championship, withdrew from The Northern Trust and finished T9, T21 and T37 in the other three.

He had arthroscopic surgery in his left knee last month to repair minor cartilage damage.

“I think right now the most important thing is fitness, for sure,” Woods told reporters after finishing play at the BMW Championship in August. “Keep going the way I’m going right now because I need to get a little bit stronger in certain body parts, activate different areas. I need to get those parts stronger and then starting building up my game for Japan.”

Woods is scheduled to play next month in the Zozo Championship in Japan, the PGA Tour’s first event in that country.

The golfers who already have sewn up spots on the Presidents Cup team are Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Cantlay, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Matt Kuchar, Justin Thomas and Webb Simpson.

“As a captain, I couldn’t have asked for a more engaged and excited group of guys,” Woods wrote.

He outlined how he will choose the remaining four golfers.

“My plan is to keep an open line of communication to ensure we find the four guys who best fit this team. We will be watching the fall events closely,” he wrote. “There are so many guys who are world-class players who aren’t yet on the team like Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland, Jordan Spieth and many more.”

The 2019 Presidents Cup will be held in mid-December at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. It features a United States team against golfers from around the world, minus Europe. The U.S. and Europe meet every two years in the Ryder Cup.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)