Yahoo Finance Adam Scott pleads with Australians to not cheer for Tiger Woods at Presidents Cup
Adam Scott is ready to square off against the U.S. team at the Presidents Cup later this month on his home turf.
He just hopes that when he does, his fellow Australians will be on his side — and not cheering for Tiger Woods.
“Last time it was too friendly,” Scott told the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Australia, via Golf.com. “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.”
Woods — the 82-time PGA Tour winner who is arguably the most popular golfer ever to play the sport anywhere in the world — will be a playing captain for the U.S. Team at the biennial event at Royal Melbourne later this month, becoming just the second team captain to ever do so. Undoubtedly, he will draw a large crowd each time he takes the course.
The Americans are heavy favorites to pick up a win yet again, too, and have only lost once since the first Presidents Cup in 1994.
Scott, who is playing this week at the Australian Open, has lost seven times in the Presidents Cup with the International Team. His quest for a win became even harder this week, too, after Jason Day withdrew from the event with a back injury — forcing team captain Ernie Els to tab Korean Ben An to replace him.
In order to finally win, he said, the International Team will need fan support in Australia.
While he knows how rare it is to have high-profile golfers like Woods actually playing in Australia — Woods hasn’t competed in the country since the 2011 Presidents Cup — Scott urged his fellow Aussies to remember what side they’re on when play kicks off next week.
“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 come to Australia or Korea where we play these things, and the locals are excited to see them as much as anyone on our team,” Scott told the Herald Sun, via Golf.com.
“But while we appreciate them very much, we don’t have to cheer for them.”
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