Getty Image / Chris Condon
The 2019 Presidents Cup gets underway on December 12th at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The only time the International team has won the event since the inaugural edition in 1994 actually came at this same track in 1998 and Australian Adam Scott wants there to be a true home-course advantage this year.
Tiger Woods, who is serving as a playing captain for the American side, is of course the biggest storyline heading into the event. It’s the first time he’s teed it up in Australia since the 2011 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne when the Americans won 19-15. Scott remembers how his fellow countrymen cheered on Woods, but he wants it to be a different scene this time around.
“Last time it was too friendly,” Scott told the Herald-Sun in Melbourne. “Quite bluntly, we want the home-crowd advantage, and I’ll be disappointed if they are cheering enthusiastically for Tiger or anyone on the U.S. team.”
“I’m not saying be a poor sport, but one challenge our team has always had is gaining a home-soil advantage because it’s rare that stars like Tiger and DJ [Dustin Johnson] come to Australia (2011) or Korea (2015) where we play these things and the locals are excited to see them as much as anyone on our team,” Scott told ESPN. “But while we appreciate them very much, we don’t have to cheer for them.”
Scott has never been on the winning side of a Presidents Cup and he’s hoping that a home-course vibe will change the script for his International side. With that being said, this is Tiger Woods we’re talking about. This event could be played in front of zero spectators and nothing but kangaroos and koala bears and even some of them would cheer for Woods.
This also isn’t just a USA vs. Australia event, of course, it’s the Americans against the rest of the world, essentially.
Eleven of the 12 U.S. team members will be teeing it up in the Bahamas this week for the Hero World Challenge while Scott is taking part in the Australian Open.