Captain's picks took different paths to Presidents Cup

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Bill Haas, Tiger Woods, Aaron Baddeley and Robert Allenby will all be playing in the 2011 Presidents Cup.

Bill Haas came to East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta last week to play in the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola knowing he needed to win in order to make the U.S. Presidents Cup team. Aaron Baddeley, on the other hand, only had to beat one man, John Senden, to grab his spot on the International squad.

Mission accomplished -- on both counts.

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Haas, who beat Hunter Mahan on the third extra hole to win the tournament as well as the FedExCup and its eye-popping $10 million bonus, joins Tiger Woods as Fred Couples' two Captain's Picks for the matches that will be played Nov. 17-20 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

"It's something that I've worked for, kind of set as a goal from the beginning of the year," Haas said. "And for it to happen like this is awesome."

Baddeley tied for third at East Lake, two strokes out of the playoff, and easily outdistanced Senden, who finished 25th after bolting into contention for a pick when he finished second at the BMW Championship. International captain Greg Norman had called both players on Monday to say he would be watching their performance intently during the finale of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.

"I put them both on notice that those two were under scrutiny, and whoever played the best at THE TOUR Championship would obviously get the final nod," Norman said.

So Baddeley was pleased to deliver when it counted.

"After Greg gave us a call on Monday, it was really just a matter of just sort of trying to put it out of my mind and go out and just play golf," he said. "... I spent a lot of time, especially on the putting green, trying to really feel like I was getting in the game in order and be ready for the week and stay in the week. The game felt good; and it was pleasing to be able to play that well, when I knew that Greg was watching so closely, with so much on the line."

Joining Baddeley, a Presidents Cup rookie, on Norman's squad is veteran Robert Allenby, who has played on five International teams -- and is a two-time winner at Royal Melboune. Allenby did not make the field at East Lake but was at the top of Norman's wish list due to his experience on the famed Australian Sandbelt course that he's played since he was 12 years old.

"I've had some success there, and the relief was humongous," Allenby said. "Greg will tell you himself how happy I was, and you know the first thing I said was that you'll get 12 billion percent out of me to get the absolute best out of my ability that I have to play the game of golf."

The addition of the Allenby and Baddeley gives Norman five Aussies among the 12 players on his team. In addition, there are three South Africans and three Koreans, as well as Ryo Ishikawa of Japan. The Internantional Team's lone victory in the biennial competition came at Royal Melbourne in 1998.

Couples said Haas, who has now won three times and finished runner-up on three other occasions during the two-year qualification period, faced stiff competition from Brandt Snedeker and Keegan Bradley. Snedeker finished 11th in the U.S. Team standings while Haas was 12th and Bradley, the rookie who has won twice this year, including the PGA Championship, was 20th.

"For my guys, they knew what they had to do and it was just a matter of Bill winning," Couples said. "And I could not leave him off the team after that; ... he'll tell you, second place isn't good enough, and he understood that. ...

"It just felt like in this instance, Bill Haas has played two years, never been outside the Top 12 position. He's been inside the Top 10 most of the time. And you know, if Keegan would have finished fourth or fifth last week and Bill would have lost to Hunter Mahan, the others assistants will tell you that Keegan would have been chosen."

Couples said he spoke to Bradley and told him that he would be the pick if it turns out that Steve Stricker is unable to play. Stricker had to withdraw from the BMW Championship due to weakness in his left arm. He received a cortisone shot and did play at East Lake, finishing 15th. Stricker was due to have an MRI on Tuesday.

In a classy move, Bradley took to Twitter during the teleconference to congratulate the two American picks. "Congrats to bill haas / @tigerwoods. They deserve the picks. Although I'm very disappointed, I'm very happy to have been considered. GO USA"

Couples had announced that Woods would be one of his two picks several weeks ago. The former world No. 1 will be playing in his seventh Presidents Cup and he has an 18-11-1 record -- including an unbeaten run in five matches two years ago at Harding Park.

Woods had been sidelined much of the season by an injury to his left knee and Achilles tendon that forced him to withdraw from THE PLAYERS Championship. He returned to competition in August, finishing in a tie for 37th at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and missing the cut at the PGA Championship. He did not qualify for the Playoffs.

Woods, who plans to play next week's Frys.com Open and the Australian Open the week prior to the Presidents Cup, said he has been practicing quite a bit in the six weeks since that early exit at the Atlanta Athletic Club. Woods, who has not won on TOUR since the 2009 BMW Championship, has seen his swing instructor Sean Foley several times during that span.

"We're practicing very hard up at Medalist, and I'm playing as much as I possibly can, something that I hadn't not done all summer, because I hadn't been cleared to do it," Woods said. "Now I have the clearance to do that. My training sessions are great. Strength has come back. My explosiveness has come back through my training, and now just trying to get my feels back, and it feels great."