MELBOURNE, Australia — The motto for Tiger Woods these days is to move forward, and that covers a lot of territory.
Woods nearly made it through his interview Tuesday at the Presidents Cup before he was asked about the prospects of playing Adam Scott and ex-caddie Steve Williams, who caused such a stir over a racial comment he made to disparage Woods two weeks ago.
Would it not be better to face him early and get it out of the way?
“It’s already done,” Woods said. “I addressed it last week and I said life goes forward, not backward.”
He is ready to put behind a summer of injuries, especially after such a promising showing last week in the Australian Open when he was twice within one shot of the lead on the back nine and finished third, two shots behind, his best result against a full field in two years.
Woods even sounded resigned to moving beyond such a successful partnership with Steve Stricker.
It took a dozen years and 16 partners in the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup until Woods found what appeared to be the perfect partner. Two years ago, they became the first tandem to win all four team matches in the Presidents Cup, and the first to go 4-0 in any cup in 30 years.
They won two out of three matches at the Ryder Cup last year.
But there were growing indications that U.S. captain Fred Couples might break them up for some matches when the Presidents Cup gets under way at Royal Melbourne.
“Hopefully, we’ll get put out there together,” Woods said. “There’s a certain comfort level about each other’s games.”
He added, however, that the pairings for the week have not been decided.
“A lot of pairings have not been set in stone,” Woods said.
Woods was excited the way Stricker hit the ball in a practice round Tuesday, particularly because Stricker last competed Sept. 25 at the Tour Championship while dealing with a neck injury that weakened his left arm.
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