Golf legend Fred Couples has recalled playing a hilarious prank on Tiger Woods at the 2009 Presidents Cup - and not revealing the truth until two years later.
Couples was the US team's captain that year and before the tournament begins each captain has to select a player who would sit out the final day's play in case someone on the other team gets injured and all 12 singles matches cannot take place. In order to keep that process as secretive as possible, the captains write down the name of said player and put it in an envelope.
The rule has rarely been used over the years and did not come into play in 2009, with the US comfortably beating the International team. However, Couples played an elaborate prank on his team at the end of the tournament when he managed to switch the name in the envelope to make it look like he had planned to bench then world No. 1 Woods in case there was an injury.
Recalling the story ahead of this year's Presidents Cup, Couples said: "We win Sunday night and [head official] Steve Carman comes in and he has to give the envelope back to the captain. We're in the room hooting and hollering and he pulls me aside and I know what he's gonna say: 'Here's you're envelope.'
"I said, 'Why don't you open it up in front of everyone and read the name in there.' So he tears it open and he reads it and it's Tiger Woods.
"The whole room went silent. So they thought I was such a clown that I put Tiger Woods in there as the guy who wouldn't play on Sunday in case of an injury."
Couples did not reveal that he had actually switched the names until two years later, adding that Woods texted him for weeks after the tournament saying 'Dude, you've got the biggest balls of anyone I've ever seen'.
"We somehow unhooked the envelope and I took the name out of there," Couples explained. "It was someone who was a [captain's] pick, and I put Tiger's name in there.
"He texted me for weeks: 'Dude, you've got the biggest balls of anyone I've ever seen.' I went, 'You know what? Why not put your name in. I thought I'd stir things up.'
"So that went for years, then I finally told the story. I took a lot of heck for it but for two years I had everyone thinking I put Tiger Woods' name in the envelope."
