Bill Haas got another big payoff on Tuesday when he was picked for the US golf team at the Presidents Cup.
US captain Fred Couples used his two picks on Tiger Woods and Haas, who won a sudden-death playoff to claim the Tour Championship for his first win of the year.
Couples took Haas, the son of vice captain Jay Haas, over Keegan Bradley, whose two wins this year include the PGA Championship.
International captain Greg Norman took Robert Allenby and Aaron Baddeley, both of whom grew up in Melbourne.
He said Allenby was an “automatic pick” because of his longtime success at Royal Melbourne, while Baddeley made it an easier choice when he tied for third at the Tour Championship.
“Bill Haas knew he had to win last week, and he did it,” Couples said. “I could not leave him off the team after that. When a guy knows that second place ... and he’ll tell you, second place isn’t good enough. And he understood that.”
He said if Haas had lost the playoff at East Lake and Bradley had finished fourth or fifth — he wound up tied for 11th — then Bradley would have been the pick.
Couples said if Steve Stricker cannot play because of an injury, then Bradley would be chosen to replace him. Stricker had an MRI scan on Tuesday because of weakness in his left arm, although results were not immediately disclosed.
Woods was announced as a pick five weeks ago. Couples thought it was important to let the rest of the Americans know there would be only one open spot after qualifying ended.
Woods, who missed most of the summer with left leg injuries, did not return until last month and played only two tournaments, missing the cut in the PGA Championship.
The Presidents Cup is scheduled for Nov. 17 to Nov. 20 at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.
“Things are going great,” Woods said. “We’re practicing very hard up at The Medalist, and I’m playing as much as I possibly can, something that I hadn’t done all summer because I hadn’t been cleared to do it.”
Bradley becomes the first American to win a major and be left off a team in the same year since Todd Hamilton won The Open and was not chosen for the 2004 Ryder Cup team.
Couples said he spoke to Bradley for 45 minutes on the phone to explain his decision.
“I’m not one to say: ‘Hey, you’re going to be on plenty of teams.’ I wouldn’t want to hear that,” Couples said. “I know he’s a young player. I laid it out on the line and told him for really three or four weeks now where everyone stood.”
The rest of the US team that qualified two weeks ago were Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney, Hunter Mahan, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson and David Toms.
Allenby and Baddeley give the International team — comprised of players from everywhere but the US and Europe — five Australians for the matches at Royal Melbourne. It’s the fifth time since the Presidents Cup began that the International side has had five Aussies.
Norman referred to Allenby as an “automatic pick” because he plays his best golf Down Under, one year winning the Australian Masters, Australian Open and the Australian PGA in the same year.
The 10 who qualified for the International team are Adam Scott, Jason Day, Charl Schwartzel, Ernie Els, K.J. Choi, K.T. Kim, Ryo Ishikawa, Y.E. Yang, Geoff Ogilvy and Retief Goosen.
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