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Melbourne - Tiger Woods will combine his captain's duties with playing most likely three times during the Presidents Cup, his deputy Fred Couples revealed on Wednesday.
There has been fervent speculation leading up to the biennial match play showdown between the United States and an International team led by Ernie Els about how much the US superstar might contribute with the clubs after awarding himself a captain's pick.
Couples, who captained the team in 2009, 2011 and 2013, has long championed Woods as capable of assuming the dual roles and said he anticipates he will play a big part on the course at Royal Melbourne.
"I think he'll play three times," he said.
"He still wants to captain this team (but) I know he'll play three days.
"I picked him when he was like 400th in the world to come down here and play," added Couples.
"I picked him three months early and took a bunch of grief for it. He should be on every team. That's how good he is."
Woods is the first playing captain since Hale Irwin in the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, placing greater responsibility on Couples and his fellow vice-captains Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson.
"He is a heck of a captain, which you would think, and he's a great player to be on your team. So we have both," said Couples.
"When he's playing, you know, there's not like Zach is the captain. We're all captain, and it depends on where we are on the course."
The Presidents Cup begins on Thursday with the first five fourball matches. The draw for the first day's pairings takes place later on Wednesday.
Teams for the 13t Presidents Cup golf match between holders the United States and the International team at Royal Melbourne Golf Club from Thursday (x-captain's pick):
United States
Justin Thomas (world ranking four), Dustin Johnson (5), x-Tiger Woods (6), Patrick Cantlay (7), Xander Schauffele (9), Webb Simpson (11), x-Patrick Reed (12), Bryson DeChambeau (13), x-Tony Finau (16), x-Gary Woodland (17), Rickie Fowler (22), Matt Kuchar (24)
Captain: Tiger Woods
Captain's assistants: Fred Couples, Zack Johnson, Steve Stricker
Internationals
Adam Scott (AUS/18), Louis Oosthuizen (RSA/20), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN/21), Marc Leishman (AUS/28), x-Im Sung-jae (KOR/36), Abraham Ancer (MEX/39), x-An Byeong-hun (KOR/42), x-Adam Hadwin (CAN/48), Cameron Smith (AUS/52), x-Joaquin Niemann (CHI/56), CT Pan (TPE/64), Li Haotong (CHN/65)
Captain: Ernie Els (RSA)
Captain's assistants: Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Mike Weir (CAN), KJ Choi (KOR), Trevor Immelman (RSA)
Past Presidents Cup results ahead of the 13th edition between the United States and the International team at Royal Melbourne Golf Club from Thursday:
2017 at Jersey City: USA 19-11 Internationals 11
2015 at Incheon, South Korea: USA 15.5-14.5 Internationals
2013 at Dublin, Ohio: USA 18.5-15.5 Internationals
2011 at Melbourne, Australia: USA 19-15 Internationals
2009 at San Francisco: USA 19.5-14.5 Internationals
2007 at Montreal: USA 19.5-14.5 Internationals
2005 at Gainesville, Virginia: USA 18.5-15.5 Internationals
2003 at Fancourt, South Africa: USA 17-17 Internationals
2000 at Gainesville, Virginia: USA 21.5-10.5 Internationals
1998 at Melbourne, Australia: Internationals 20.5-11.5 USA
1996 at Gainesville, Virginia: USA 16.5-15.5 Internationals
1994 at Gainesville, Virginia: USA 20-12 Internationals
