Before Davis Love III even called him, Webb Simpson knew he was going to be named assistant captain of the Presidents Cup — or so he thought, at least.
He can thank Tiger Woods for that.
As Simpson recounts, last Tuesday he was in Wilmington, North Carolina, with his family for lunch at their favorite hot dog joint, Trolley Stop. Granted, Simpson was a bit stressed; His children annoyed the restaurant owner by constantly opening the door, and Simpson not only had to lock them up, but also order them.
The hustle and bustle is added: Simpson’s phone started ringing.
“I looked down and it’s Tiger,” Simpson recalled Tuesday at the Wyndham Championship. “I told Tiger I have to call him back, I have to order my hot dogs. So, order my hot dogs, go away, call him back and yeah he kinda mentioned me living in charlotte [this year’s President Cup venue] Quail Hollow is my home, which he thought would bring a lot to the team.
“It meant a lot but honestly I was done with the call and I figured I don’t know if that was official or not. I don’t know if he meant cheering me on as an assistant or if I am an assistant.
The next day, Simpson met Zach Johnson, already one of Captain Love’s assistants, in Detroit and confirmed what Woods had said. They laughed at the story of Woods spoiling the surprise, and the following night Love finally gave the floor and welcomed Simpson to the US team (Steve Stricker was named along with Simpson).
Simpson was honored to take the job. He’d been thinking about this year’s games at Quail Hollow for so long, he said, and with just a top-10 since last year’s Wyndham, his chances of making the 12-man roster as a player were slim to zero.
“Not that I worried about not being a part of it, but part of me thought if I don’t make it on the team and Davis takes a different direction, that’s fine, but it’s going to be hard to see the Presidents Cup.” taking place there and not being a part of it in any way,” Simpson said. “So I was really, really relieved to get the chance to be a part of that.”
The 36-year-old Simpson, who has competed in three Ryder and Presidents Cups each, also shared a story from his US team debut at the 2011 Presidents Cup at the Royal Melbourne, where captain Jim Furyk shared some wisdom with him: “When you When you are done with your golf career, you will really look back and remember your victories and team events.”
“So far,” Simpson continued, “those are the best memories I have of the game, the three Ryder Cups and the Presidents Cups. So I’m super excited to be alongside Davis, Zach, Strick and Freddie [Couples]. … I know these guys well, have been around them for a long time. I don’t feel much older than the guys that are going to be on the team because I’ve been playing with them for so long now, but I think for some of them, like Scottie [Scheffler]I’m much older than.”
Wyndham Championship full field results
Simpson begins the regular season finale this week in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is ranked 117th in FedExCup points. He’s likely to be in next week’s playoff opener in Memphis, but with only the top 70 progressing to the BMW Championship, Simpson may have plenty of time to prepare.
On the other hand, Simpson could pick up a few wins and shock the world by making it to East Lake and possibly forcing Love’s hand in choosing a captain.
“I’m excited for the captain’s call to see who we should pick,” Simpson said. “If I’m even in the running, it could be fun/embarrassing nominating myself for an election, so we’ll see.”
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