LOS ANGELES -- Fred Couples told an interesting story last week during a sponsor's luncheon to promote next month's Chevron World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif. At the Presidents Cup last year at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, the U.S. team captain and his International counterpart Greg Norman were required to put one player's name in an envelope on Saturday night in case someone couldn't play in singles on Sunday due to injury or illness. Couples picked Lucas Glover.
As it turned out, everyone played, with the U.S. posting a 19 1/2 to 14 1/2 win. At the victory celebration afterward, Couples and assistant captain Jay Haas decided to have a little fun with Woods, who won four team matches with Steve Stricker and defeated Y.E. Yang, 6 and 5, in singles. They retrieved the envelope and changed Glover's name to Woods. When Couples informed the players he had picked Woods to sit out, the room went quiet.
As of last week, Couples still wasn't sure if Woods knew the truth.
"I know," Woods said Tuesday.
Asked if there would be payback, he replied, "Absolutely."
-- Mark Soltau
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