MELBOURNE, Australia – Tiger Woods wasted little time throwing himself directly into the mix in the Presidents Cup. In the back-and-forth unveiling of the opening-round fourball pairings International captain Ernie Els selected Marc Leishman and Joaquin Niemann.

U.S. captain Woods immediately responded with: “Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods.”

This has been the plan for quite some time, and Woods was chomping at the bit to deliver the news. He selected himself first, to help go out and quickly set the tone for his American squad.

“There was zero hesitation here,” Woods said.

Zero hesitation, and perfect reasoning.

“It was important for me to get out there as a player, but also as a captain,” he said. “I want to obviously see my guys play. This is my first time as a captain. I want to be able to enjoy that part of it as well.”

Woods’ career Presidents Cup record is 24-15-1. But it’s a mediocre 7-9 overall in the fourball format.