Tiger: When he's bad he's better

Fred Couples said it: “When I’m 100 years old and I tell somebody that I captained two of these, and that Tiger Woods won both cups for me, they’ll look at me and go, ‘Wow.’”

Woods won his singles match for the Presidents Cup-clinching point, which was more a matter of timing than making a clutch putt in the moment.

But he played well, almost Tiger-like, the last two days, and we realized what we miss when we miss him: the “wow.”

He seemed to be having fun, some of the time, so is he the kinder, gentler Tiger? God, I hope not.

The best Tiger is the bad Tiger. He’s not a nice guy, we’ve learned that.

This week, I thought I saw some steel in his eyes, the thousand-yard stare, the glare, the dare.

 World golf wants – needs – that guy in contention on Sundays in major events.

That’s the guy I want to see.

First things last: The Internationals won the Presidents Cup. The black-on-black ensemble on Day Four, with the slash of gold on the right shoulder, capped two strong closing days for the world team, and the Americans had no answer.

Let’s be fair: The Americans’ designer, Peter Millar, was handicapped by the apparent need to stay within a red, white and blue motif. Save for the first day, when the dark navy shirt was complemented by a dash of red, Millar never fired a shot, much less set off bombs bursting in air. He didn’t dare to be daring.

Sun Mountain did the Americans’ outerwear, and the Yanks looked best when it rained, ‘cause it meant they got to wear their windshirts.

The Internationals were dressed from the Greg Norman Collection, and you had to wonder after the first two days whether their captain was pulling from the remainders rack. The blue, white and yellow polo on day two was distressing.

But Norman got bold on Day Three, and went dark on Day Four, and the Internationals emerged the clear winners.

And Norman's still the coolest guy on Golf Planet.