Gary Woodland reveals Presidents Cup chat with Tiger Woods

On Monday 4th November, Tiger Woods will announce his captains picks for the Presidents Cup against Ernie Els' Rest of the World side, taking place in Australia in December. The automatic picks have safely secured their spots, but there are still four captians picks for Woods to choose.

The eight players to have automatically qualified for a place in the team are: Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau.

A number of American stars are hoping that Woods will select them as his captains picks, including the likes of Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner and Kevin Na.

One player who is desperate to make the team is 2019 US Open champion Gary Woodland and he's certainly got Woods' attention. Last week at the ZOZO Championship, Woodland and Woods were paired together, alongside Keegan Bradley.

Woodland has put together a couple of excellent performances lately during the PGA Tour's Asian swing, finishing T3 at the CJ Cup and following that up with a solo 5th place finish at the ZOZO Championship.

After his final round, Woodland shed some light on the conversation he had with Woods out on the course.

“We talked about it. We joked with each other that we both needed a pick so we’re out here trying to impress Tiger,” he said. “But I think Tiger’s got a good grasp on what he wants to do.”

Woodland winning the US Open rocketed him up the Presidents Cup rankings into 10th, but a couple of poor performances saw his position start to drift, but his current form will definitely give Woods something to think about.

“I kind of had a lull there after the U.S. Open, which was frustrating. But five weeks off, came back to Vegas [at the Shriners] and found some things in Vegas and it’s turned in some pretty good weeks the last couple weeks,” he said.

“I had a great year earlier in the year and I played well the last two weeks, so hopefully that’s enough. I’m kind of in La La Land from the standpoint where if you don’t make the team, you never know what happens, but I feel pretty good about my chances and I’m happy with where my game’s at.”

Something that could cause an issue for Woodland and scupper his chances is the form of Woods himself, as winning the ZOZO Championship could well mean that Woods will pick himself as a playing captain, which then leaves just three more spots.

Finau is very likely to be picked for the team, having come so close to qualifying automatically and Woods has great match play options in Patrick Reed and Kevin Kisner, so Woodland's chances of being a part of Team USA are starting to look a little slim.