Norman to be assertive as Presidents Cup captain

SYDNEY (AP)—Greg Norman is laying it on the line for next week’s Presidents Cup, saying he won’t let television dictate his pairings and he won’t be afraid to send Adam Scott out against Tiger Woods.
He also said he’s going to be an assertive captain and give more advice than he takes.After Norman finished his final round at the Australian Open on Sunday with a 3-over 75, he hobbled into the media center on his blistered feet to say he learned from his losing experience as International captain two years ago in San Francisco.

“At the end of the day, I am going to say, `This is who you are going to play,”’ he said about the team event that starts Thursday at Royal Melbourne. “I’m going to be a little bit more assertive, more of a captain instead of seeking advice.”

The potential Woods vs. Scott pairing, whether in the foursomes or fourball events or the singles next Sunday, is a delicate one. Scott’s caddie, Steve Williams, was formerly on Woods’ bag. They have had a fractious relationship since Woods fired Williams in July, and Williams made a racial slur against Woods at a caddie function last week in Shanghai.

“If it happens, it happens, it’s not going to be premeditated,” Norman said. “I talked to Adam about it, asked him if it works out that way, do you have a problem, and he said, ‘No, not at all.”’
“He might end up playing with him every day, who knows. I’d expect the two of them (Woods and Williams) to meet up face to face from Thursday onward.”

Norman said he remembers being told by then-captain Peter Thomson at the Presidents Cup in 1998 that he was going to play Woods in a singles match Sunday. The International team had a big lead going into the singles—and eventually won for the only time in the history of the competition—and Norman wasn’t happy with the decision, figuring it was something orchestrated for television.