He’s won 15 Majors and the most matches in Presidents Cup history but Tiger Woods was not immune to getting emotional on Sunday at Royal Melbourne.
Woods was made to work to beat Abraham Ancer 3&2 get into the record books ahead of great rival Phil Mickelson as the player with the most matches won in the events history.
His win set the tempo for the US comeback, one much needed after the young Internationals led the event from the start before the visitors clawed their way back to reduce the deficit to two points heading into the singles.
A win on the 17th hole by Matt Kuchar sent the Americans into frenzied celebrations.
The captain though was overcome by emotion. He attempted to hide his tears in his team cap.
‘I’ve cried in pretty much every Cup we’ve won,’ he said.
‘I’ve been doing this a long time. Any time you have moments where you’re able to do something that is bigger than us as an individual is so much more meaningful and so much more special.’
Steve Stricker enjoyed it. He said: ‘I love seeing other people cry – especially Tiger Woods.’
‘Tiger did an unbelievable job. It was a privilege – and we’ll keep this on the forefront of our minds forever.’
Woods went 3-0 in his matches this week and as a captain, his performance was as good.
‘All of us will look back and have these pictures hanging on our walls and say we played for and alongside Tiger Woods, the greatest player ever,’ said Kuchar said.
‘It was awesome.’
Justin Thomas opened up too.
‘Someone who has done as much as he has and had as much experiences as he had in all these team events, he very easily, I felt, could have tried to take over the team rooms or try to give all this advice and try to do so much,’ said Thomas, who opened up on Thursday alongside his mentor for a win.
He added: ‘We have 12 of the best players in the world. No offense, he just needed to get out of the way – and that’s what he did.’
