The Presidents Cup is rich in history, with thrilling moments almost guaranteed every time. As we gear up for this year’s tournament, at the Royal Montreal Golf Club, anticipation is running high. Yet, despite all the excitement, the 2003 Presidents Cup remains one of the most memorable to date.
It happened in 2003 at the Fancourt Hotel and Country Club’s Links course in George, Western Cape, South Africa. Jack Nicklaus captain of Team America and Tiger Woods was the #1 golfer at that time. On the opposite side, it was world No. 2 Vijay Singh and world No. 3 Ernie Els and their captain was legendary South African Gary Player. Interestingly, he was also the architect of the course. The tournament started with a 4–1 record favoring Team Internationals.
On Friday, winds shifted in favor of the USA as they had a 9.5–6.5 lead. However, the rollercoaster continued and Team Internationals bounced back with 12.5–9.5 on Saturday. Only Sunday singles could transpire to save the American squad and it did. Team USA won the first three singles and tied it up.
However, Vijay Singh won his match against David Toms with a score of 4-3, Tiger Woods stepped in, and he final Singles match, 4-3 versus Els. The event resulted in a tie. Later, each team chose a player for a sudden-death playoff. Tiger Woods was facing Ernie Els again. Initially, Els shot a 12-footer on the second extra hole for the half. It was all dark, despite Woods’s incredible 15-footer for par.
However, Els bounced with his own six-footer. Later, both captains agreed not to continue the tournament the following day, resulting in a tie. Not only Woods’s performance, but the sportsmanship of Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player made it the best tournament in the history of the Presidents Cup to this day.
Nick Price, who was playing in his final Presidents Cup, later shared the nervousness he experienced in the tournament. “I was coming up on my 47th birthday. My nerves weren’t very good. They were starting to get frayed, All the times I’ve been watching golf on TV, I don’t think I’ve ever been as nervous for anyone in my life as I was for Ernie that day,” as revealed on Golf Digest.
The golfer also talked about the darkness, saying, “You could hardly see, to be honest. It was so dark.” Despite that, he couldn’t move his eyes and talked about it further, saying “I was sweating, I couldn’t look. I was pulling at the grass and looking all over the place, but it was tough. Really, really tough.” However, it’s not the only nail-biting experience fans had. Tiger Woods did something in 2019 providing a similar experience.
Tiger Woods’ 2019 Presidents Cup twist
Tiger Woods surprised fans by choosing himself as the fourth player with a captain’s pick, even though he was the team’s captain. Meanwhile, the International Team, led by Ernie Els, set up another showdown, differently. Initially, Team Internationals took the 4–1 lead on Thursday and expanded further on Friday as the score was 6.5–3.5. On Saturday, things got worse as the American squad was defeated again and team internationals their lead to 9–5, with Woods sitting out.
Following that on Saturday, the 15x major champion again benched himself and raised the pressure and confusion among fans. Despite that, Team USA crawled back with 10–8 leaving everything on Sunday singles. And that was when he pulled a great comeback. Woods defeated Abraham Ancer with a 3 & 2 score. What’s more special is that he birdied seven of the 16 holes with a long putt in the final hole. Seeing their captain in action ignited a spark within them, as the American team went on to win eight of the 12 singles matches, retaining the cup with a 16–14 victory.
