CHARLOTTE, N.C. – At the last Presidents Cup in 2019, Tiger Woods was a playing captain who helped lead the U.S. team to victory at Royal Melbourne. Not having him with the U.S. team this week at Quail Hollow Club as he continues to recover from injuries he sustained in a 2021 car crash is impossible to ignore.

But just because he’s not at Quail Hollow doesn’t mean he’s not part of the team.

“I was standing on the sixth tee for a long time watching every group come through and I called him and we talked for a while,” U.S. captain Davis Love III said Thursday. “I said, ‘at least you’re watching. You can call if you see anything.’”

Woods has become a constant for American teams in recent years as a captain, vice captain or player and Love acknowledged he remains engaged even from afar.

“He’s having fun. He obviously misses it,” Love said. “The other night on a Zoom call, [Fred Couples] asked him, ‘When are you getting in?’ Tiger laughed, ‘What’d you say?’ I know he wishes he were here.”

Woods, who played just three events this year, has talked about how limited his schedule will be going forward and a grueling week climbing the North Carolina hills wasn’t an option.

“It’s not easy. We’re banging around in a cart and walking up and down hills. I get it,” Love said. “We’re including him, as usual.”