What will Tiger be like as captain?

Tiger Woods hasn’t always been captain material.

That might surprise some casual fans, but for those who have closely followed him – and certainly his peers who have seen his incredible career up close and personal – it’s a common thought.

But those same competitors – and sometimes teammates – now say Woods has transformed himself so much so that American golf might be on the verge of the greatest captain in U.S. Team history.

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The 82-time PGA TOUR winner will suit up as a playing captain this week at the Presidents Cup, the first golfer to handle both chores since Hale Irwin in the inaugural fight between the U.S. and the Internationals in 1994.

Back then, Woods was still winning amateur tournaments and was still a few years off becoming a PGA TOUR star. From his first appearance in the 1997 Ryder Cup, Woods has made 16 appearances for the U.S. team either against Europe or the Internationals.

Now he will also lead.

Those who bore the brunt of his dominance in golf know that when Woods was young and full of intensity, only one thing mattered: Winning. His intense competitive nature didn’t allow for traits that routinely work in a leadership role. He wasn’t concerned with others or their feelings. In fact he probably took delight in crushing any positivity they may have had on the golf course.

As such, thoughts of him as a good captain just didn’t wash.

“He was very young back then and his focus was on winning major championships and PGA TOUR tournaments,” says Mark O’Meara, who played on three U.S. teams with Woods and also won a World Cup with him in 1999.

“I don’t think he was quite as much into the team atmosphere and I can’t blame him for that. He just wanted to win. Second place was not good enough and that’s where all his energy went.”

But then life happened. Woods suffered multiple back injuries and there was a distinct possibility he might never return to competitive golf. He began looking at golf through a different prism. Age also mellowed him. The intensity melted and the experience gained along the way started to push through.

Woods played just seven times on the PGA TOUR in 2014, 11 in 2015, not at all in 2016 and just once in 2017 with just one top-10 in that stretch. Instead of retreating into a shell as he contemplated his future, he started to give back to the game. As the youth explosion began with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler, Woods became somewhat of a confidant. Not quite a mentor, but a sounding block.

The keys of the game through Woods’ eyes started to get passed on, little by little, to those lucky enough. In 2016, Davis Love III brought him in as an assistant on the Ryder Cup team. In 2017, Steve Stricker did the same for the Presidents Cup. And it was then this new Tiger started to come to light.

“If you were to ask me what 2002 Tiger would be like as a captain, I would have said not the greatest,” Chris DiMarco says, “but I think he has morphed into a different man.”

DiMarco finished runner-up to Woods in two majors and was part of four straight U.S. teams with him from 2003 to 2006.

“He is a lot humbler and looks like he is having more fun and is more friendly with the guys now,” DiMarco notes. “So he looks like one of the guys -- which I could never have said about Tiger back then. It is nice to see. These younger guys on the team they all grew up idolizing him so to have him as a playing captain it will be very neat.”

But just what type of captain will Woods be? The 43-year-old has played under 11 separate captains in previous Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups: Jack Nicklaus, Ken Venturi, Fred Couples, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Curtis Strange, Hal Sutton, Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin, Love III and Jim Furyk. Don’t be surprised if he draws from any or all of them.

It’s difficult to imagine Woods being a huge motivational speaker type. Instead his resume should hold plenty of weight among his players. You would expect they’d be willing to follow him to the ends of the earth and back.

“I expect he will lead by example. There is no one more committed than that guy,” O’Meara says.

Fred Couples captained Woods three times in the Presidents Cup – all to wins – and is now one of his assistants for the clash at Royal Melbourne this week.

“If you go by Tiger’s resume in golf – it is so huge – he will be phenomenal. He crosses those t’s and dots the i’s to perfection,” Couples says.

“He said recently in Japan after winning -- you give me a lead and I know what to do. And I think the same can be said as a captain. His experience in this game counts. It is probably second to none. He’s been around a lot, he knows how to handle the guys, he will be a huge force as a captain.”

Jay Haas was an assistant when Woods played the 2013 Presidents Cup and also was his teammate on two U.S. teams in the early 2000s.

“He will be a little more vocal than usual but that is against his nature, he’s not a talkative guy and he probably feels like, ‘Hey I’m prepared; you should be prepared,’” Haas says.

“Not everybody is a Fuzzy Zoeller or a Lee Trevino type. Steve Stricker is a quiet guy and he led the team in a rout at Liberty National.”

Lehman, who also played with and captained Woods, believes his strength will be a huge plus.

“The reason why Tiger will be a really good captain is he is a strategic thinker. He’s been a fantastic assistant in the past and therefore as a captain I see him being the kind of guy who puts the right guys on the course,” Lehman says.

“He won’t have a problem putting guys on the bench. And as an assistant captain, I saw a Tiger who was really willing to share his knowledge. As a player, especially in his prime, he was not quite as willing to share his secrets for obvious reasons.

“The essence of a great captain is being able to give the team whatever they need to be successful -- and he now is doing that so he will be a great captain.”

But what about the balance of playing and leading the team? There’s a reason playing captains are a rarity. Yes, most captains are past their playing primes. But being a captain requires a lot of planning and strategy as well as a need to stay flexible as the matches play out.

Woods has been a lock to play all five sessions in most of his previous Cup appearances. But now, with captaincy duties to attend to, it’s likely he will have some time off to get a feel for what’s happening at Royal Melbourne.

Couples reveals that before Woods won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan this fall, he was leaning towards playing very little, if at all (and of course, he wasn’t officially announced as a team member until after the captain’s picks were made a week later).

“Before Japan, he just really wanted to be the captain. He wanted to be out on every tee. Watch everyone tee off,” Couples says.

“But the team is infinitely better with him on it. I don’t think he is going to play all five sessions but he is the greatest player and to have him on the team is huge. 82 wins -- that is just unbelievable.

“Playing won’t slow anything down. … Maybe it will be a little difficult in one area with making picks. But knowing him, he won’t play in the afternoon when the picks come out (for the next morning’s session) so he will be fine.

“Basically we as assistants will do what he says. So when we go in there if he is out playing – which could be one or two times – it’s pretty simple.”

Irwin recently had some advice for Woods as the last man to juggle both.

“He has to be careful because as a captain you have some duties and leadership to provide and as a player you have a responsibility to play to your potential,” Irwin recently told PGATOUR.COM.

“Obviously Tiger is playing very, very well right now, but you have to measure what you can do as a player and a captain.”

Perhaps the biggest danger for Woods is his own aura. Could those he is leading try too hard to impress? Could Woods’ stature be so large that he will bring nerves? While Woods Presidents Cup record is formidable at 24-15-1 in eight Presidents Cup appearances, he is just 13-21-3 in eight Ryder Cups.

“I would imagine if you are on the 17th hole and you are one down and Tiger runs out next to you, you might be nervous,” Couples admits.

“He will make others nervous including his own partners and that’s why some say he has a bad record. I have played with him three times and we won twice and lost once and that time was 99 percent me. It is hard to play with him because of his aura.

“But he knows what is doing. He has great lingo and the way he talks to people is effective.”

O’Meara knows firsthand that the aura factor is real. He also knows Woods will find a way to win, as he always has.

“I played for Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer – two of the greatest legends to have played our game – and you get nervous because you want to perform out of respect of them,” O’Meara says.

“But as far as Tiger … anytime people think he can’t do something, he usually does it. We have seen that over all of his comebacks when people doubted him.

“I would never underestimate Tiger Woods.”

You can be sure Ernie Els and his International team won’t be.