Tiger 'Honored' to Be on Presidents Cup Team


Tiger Woods said he was "honored" to be one of the two picks by U.S. captain Fred Couples for the 2011 Presidents Cup team. The biennial event against a squad of international players will be held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia November 14-20.

"They wanted me on the team, and I'm honored to be a part of the team," Woods said. "It's a wonderful mix of younger guys and older veterans."

Woods made the comments at Wednesday's Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Atunyote Golf Club at Turning Stone Resort in Verona, N.Y. He partnered with the LPGA Tour's Suzann Pettersen to finish third in the one-day fundraiser hosted by his former Stanford teammate and long-time friend.

"Today was for fun," said Woods, who played in Begay's event in 2009 and this year drew a large and appreciative crowd. "Try to keep the galleries entertained. Keep the atmosphere really light. Granted, we were out there competing a little bit, but it's all for Notah's charity."

Woods was impressed with his teammate. "She played great," Woods said of Pettersen. "She definitely carried me."

Begay hoped to raise $1 million to help fight and educate people about child obesity and diabetes in Native American youth.

Other professionals in the mixed event included Begay, Rickie Fowler, Natalie Gulbis and Annika Sorenstam. "I thought this turned out extraordinarily well," Begay said.

Tiger, who injured his knee and Achilles heel in the Masters in April and has been rehabilitating it ever since, said he played "all right" on Wednesday.

But Begay observed some positive signs. "I saw enough good things that I know he's making progress," he said. "It was nice to be out there with him."

After Begay's tournament Woods traveled to the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston, where he will attend a pro-am dinner to express thanks for the tournament's contributions to the Tiger Woods Foundation over the years. Woods did not qualify for the tournament. The second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs starts Friday and will have a Monday - Labor Day - finish.

"It's like missing a major championship," said Woods, a two-time FedEx Cup champion. "I'm missing tournaments I normally play in or have played in. It's part of being injured and not being able to play."

Woods will continue to work on his game with swing coach Sean Foley. Earlier this week he signed up to play in the Frys.com Open October 6-9. The PGA Tour's Fall Series event will be held at CordeValle Golf Club, about 45 minutes south of Stanford.

"I've been hurt the majority of the year and haven't quite gotten to be able to (get) the reps that I need to do what (swing coach) Sean (Foley) wants me to do," Woods said. "We were right on track at Augusta, but unfortunately I got hurt there and then it was a huge setback. We're just trying to get back to where I was at Augusta, and it's coming around. I just need more reps."