Tiger Woods will pick a backup captain — here’s who that could be

When the captain of a soccer team comes off the pitch for a substitution, there’s a ritual that goes on where he or she will pass their captain’s armband to a deputy, the next-in-line, to lead the team the rest of the way. This week, U.S. Presidents Cup playing captain Tiger Woods will have to do something similar — but who will he choose as his second-in-command?

The difference in Woods’ case versus the soccer is that he has to pick a replacement when he goes in to play (rather than when he comes out). Each side has three vice captains, but only the captain is allowed to give advice to the members of his team during the course of play. For that reason, Woods’ selection will become important.

Thus far, the word from Team Tiger is that Woods hasn’t picked an official second. But here are his options, likely reviewed on the flight to Melbourne:

Steve Stricker

Given Stricker was the captain for the last Presidents Cup, which the U.S. won in a rout, he’d seem a logical person to hands the reins to. Stricker has now served as a captain or vice captain on five consecutive U.S. teams, and played on every Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team from 2007-2014. In short, he’s been a part of this team for over a dozen years. He’d have a trusty hand.

Fred Couples

As good as Stricker’s resume is, it’s hard to argue against Couples’ Presidents Cup credentials. The 60-year-old captained three consecutive Presidents Cup teams from 2009-2013 and will now be serving in his third consecutive cup as vice captain. He also played on four Presidents Cup teams and five Ryder Cup teams. Couples’ first team appearance came in 1989; he’d be bringing 30 years of experience to the table.

Zach Johnson

Of the three, it’s 43-year-old Johnson who still plays the most Tour events. While his only captain’s experience comes as a vice captain at last year’s Ryder Cup, Johnson appeared on nine U.S. teams between 2006 and 2016; he has no shortage of experience in team match play.

Rob McNamara

In Melbourne, Woods will lean plenty on McNamara, his right-hand man and closest confidante. There’s likely nobody he trusts more. Plus, McNamara is the “caddie captain” of the U.S. side this week. Will he get the nod? No. But this felt like a good opportunity to tell you that there is such a thing as a caddie captain.

At last week’s Hero World Challenge, where Woods was balancing playing with hosting the event, he said he was still figuring out the finger points of how he’d handle handing off the captaincy.

“The guys know that I’m going to be responsible for the points when I am playing and I’m at the focus and do my job,” he said. “We have three great vice captains. We’ll have one of them be the captain, and I’m still waiting for the Tour to tell me when that happens, when do I relinquish the captaincy role and officially have someone be the captain — because the captain’s the only one who can receive and give advice. The vice captains can receive advice, but they can’t give advice to the players or even caddies.”

Woods is likely to play in three or four of the event’s five sessions, although he offered no specifics as to which sessions those would be nor with whom he might be paired.

“When I’m out there playing, I’m responsible for that point, but when I’m not, I’m responsible for the whole team and it’s something that it’s going to be a lot of fun for all of us,” he said.

In the end, who Woods designates as captain is unlikely to play a huge factor in the outcome of the Cup — but who he picks will still be good for a bit of extra intrigue. After all, that armband transfer in soccer, when the captain comes off the pitch, is always a revealing moment.

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