ANTALYA, Turkey - Tom Lewis and Matthias Schwab share a one-shot lead after the first round of the Turkish Airlines Open on Thursday.

Lewis and Schwab both carded 7-under 65 to lead David Lipsky, Thomas Pieters and Alex Noren by one shot.

Schwab started fast with an eagle and three birdies on the front nine, while Lewis finished his round strongly with six birdies on his last seven holes.

Justin Rose is one of six players at 5 under as he chases a third consecutive title in the European Tour event. Rose finished with three birdies after a mixed round which also included an eagle and two bogeys.

Every title race has at least one sliding-doors moment. We all remember Sergio Aguero scoring in injury time against Queens Park Rangers to win Manchester City their first Premier League title, but don't forget City's 6-1 over Manchester United early in the season, the "Why Always Me?" match involving Mario Balotelli. It added five goals to City's goal differential and subtracted five from United; City won the league because of a goal-differential that was eight better than United's. What if United had just lost by one or two?

We'll spare Liverpool fans any discussion of "The Slip" and instead focus on another inflection point from that same year. On Boxing Day, Liverpool lost to City at the Etihad, 2-1, in a match they deserved to at least draw: they edged the hosts 1.79 to 1.53 on expected goals. Liverpool ended up finishing the season just two points behind City.

In Leicester City's title-winning season, they drew even with Arsenal atop the table thanks to a fortunate 1-0 January win away to Tottenham in which Spurs more than doubled their shot (21 to 10) and expected goal (1.54 to 0.68) totals. Claudio Ranieri & Co. won the title by nine points, but who knows how the season would have played out had Spurs won this match and either they or Arsenal still sat in first place come mid-March.

The same goes for the following season. In Early December, Manchester City created 2.14 expected goals compared to Chelsea's 1.39 but lost the match, 2-1, thanks in large part to Kevin De Bruyne hitting the post on an empty-net, 56th-minute tap-in that would have put City up 2-0. Had they won the match, they would have been two points clear atop the table; instead, they ended the weekend in fourth, while Chelsea had a three-point lead on everyone else that they'd never relinquish.

"All of these games were mid-season, and therefore sometimes accredited with less impact than they actually had on the title race," said Omar Chaudhuri, head of football intelligence at the consultancy 21st Club.

And then there was last season's 2-1 win by City over Liverpool in which John Stones cleared a ball off the line that was literally centimeters away from being a goal. City won the title by one point; if Stones is half-a-second slower to that ball -- hell, if he was wearing a different pair of cleats -- then Liverpool probably would have won the Premier League.

This weekend, the two teams meet for the first time in the league since that night at the Etihad and the stakes are just as high. Liverpool currently hold a six-point lead atop the table but due to City's significantly better underlying performance -- better goal difference (plus-24 to plus-16) and better xG difference (plus-20.1 to plus-11) -- most projections expect that gap to shrink over the remaining 27 games. Betting markets see Liverpool edging City by one point while 21st Club's model currently has Liverpool winning by 3.8 points. That will all change after this weekend.

"A win for City therefore would be a big swing, closing the gap to within an expected 'future' point, and essentially making it a 50/50 race," said Chaudhuri. "It's worth noting that bookmakers are more bullish on City, and would make them favourites with a win."

In short, Liverpool or City could win the Premier League this weekend. So how will each side go about doing it and which moves seem to serve them best in their march to glory?

Liverpool lean on their talent out wide

Cheuk Hei Ho, an analyst who does a lot of work on the way teams and players pass the ball, created some beautiful visualizations for each team. The images below show the kinds of passes that Liverpool and City rely on both more often and less frequently than other teams, while the different colors are meant to group together similar passes.

As you can see, neither team spends much time passing in their own third of the field, with Liverpool's only consistent pattern coming from balls out wide to their fantastic fullbacks, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. Moving into the attacking third, most of Liverpool's unique passing comes from right-to-left diagonals, which once again feature the fullbacks. Alexander-Arnold and his joystick of a right foot lead all Liverpool players in expected assists with 4.3; next closest is Roberto Firmino with 3.1 and then Robertson at 2.3. Alexander-Arnold also tops on the team, per data from Stats Perform, in completed passes into the penalty area with 5.7 per 90 minutes -- way ahead of Sadio Mane's second-most tally of 2.8.

While the creative burden carried by Liverpool's fullbacks is nothing new -- TAA was first and Robertson was second on the team in assists last season -- the frequency with which they pass to each other has increased. In fact, it's become one of the team's defining stylistic quirks: Alexander-Arnold steps on the ball, looks up and launches a cross-field ball right into Robertson's stride to switch play and exploit any space. Per data from Cheuk Hei Ho, the number of fullback-to-fullback passes has increased over Jurgen Klopp's tenure:

One other quirk worth noting: You'll see that Liverpool rarely play passes from the advanced right channel into the box. Alexander-Arnold tends to bend balls in from farther back while the team's de facto right winger is actually the team's main target for passes into the penalty area: Mohamed Salah receives 4.6 passes in the box per 90 minutes, per Stats Perform. Firmino and Mane are second and third with 3.7 and 3.5, respectively.

For City, it's all about De Bruyne

Man City's approach is different. They create sustained, effective possession in the opponent's half in a manner we've only really seen from... other teams coached by Pep Guardiola. They complete 196 passes in the attacking third per game; Liverpool are next-best at 143. They complete 82 percent of their passes in the final third; Chelsea are next-best at 76 percent. They average 50 touches in the opposition box; Liverpool are next-best at 33. They take 21 shots per match; Liverpool are next-best at 17. They create 3.36 expected goals per game; Liverpool are next-best at 2.24. And they score 3.09 goals per 90 minutes; Leicester are next-best at 2.45.

Pick just about any stat for attacking effectiveness and City are way ahead of anyone else in the league.

You can't create that kind of dominance with any predictable patterns or tendencies. City are able to play the majority of matches in their opponent's third for two main reasons: Guardiola is a master at creating attacking spacing, and their threat can come from anywhere. In terms of non-penalty expected goals+assists per 90 minutes among players with at least 400 minutes of game time, City have the four most productive attackers in the league -- Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, and Kevin De Bruyne, along with Riyad Mahrez (sixth) and Bernardo Silva (eighth). No other team has more than two players in the top 10.

However, if there's one defining feature of City's attack this year, it's the sight of Kevin De Bruyne, seemingly harnessing the Earth's rotation and whipping in a ball behind the defense from a few yards off the right corner of the penalty area. Across Europe's Big Five leagues, De Bruyne completes more passes into the penalty area per 90 minutes than any player. And here's how he most commonly does it:

De Bruyne leads Europe with the number of chances created per 90 minutes, and he's also ahead of the entire pack in assists, too, with eight. After missing most of last season with an injury, the 28-year-old Belgian looks like the best player in the Premier League through the first 11 games of the year. Perhaps uncoincidentally, the two Premier League games City lost are two of the three games De Bruyne didn't start. For the moments when City's slick passing doesn't break down the opposition, he's the sledgehammer.

Of course, neither team will be able to do what they normally do come Sunday. While City and Liverpool are first and second in passes per game in the attacking third, they're first and second in fewest passes allowed in their defensive thirds. The passes they each concede are essentially an inverse of they passes they typically complete.

The same goes for shots: They're first and second in attempts per game, and they're first and second in fewest attempts allowed. They're the two best pressing teams in the league; they're also the two hardest teams to press. The one potential weak spot: although City allow by far the fewest shots per game, they're just fourth in expected goals allowed. In other words, the few chances they do allow tend to be high-quality opportunities.

How will it play out on Sunday?

Based on what happened in the two matches between these teams last season, shots seem like they'll be at a serious premium on Sunday. Neither side broke into double digits in either meeting in 2018-19. Despite the lack of constant goalmouth action, the game at the Etihad was still played at an incredibly high level. Every attacking breakthrough felt like a minor miracle, a multi-part equation solved while riding on the back of a motorcycle. The game at Anfield, though? Not so much.

After a succession of wild, high-scoring matches across the Premier League and Champions League the previous year, neither team really took any risks in their first meeting of 2018-19. Liverpool ended up with seven shots, City six. Possession was 49.6 to 50.4, slightly in favor of City; both teams attempted the exact same number of passes in the attacking third (108) and both teams completed the exact same number of passes into the box (10).

That said, even a bland, goal-less split amid a title race has its own sliding-doors moments. Mahrez missed a penalty in the 86th minute at Anfield in October, 2018. Had it gone on, City might have hit 100 points again and the chase for first might have ended way before the last weekend of the season.

No matter how entertaining Sunday's match is, there's likely to be another one of these inflection points somewhere across the 90 minutes. We just won't know what it is until we get to May.

Ajit Singh, the BCCI's ACU chief, has said his office had "amply" warned the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) that some of the KPL matches would be "compromised". This is now being investigated by the crime branch of Karnataka Police, which has booked several people including former state players CM Gautam and Abrar Kazi.

He confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the BCCI's anti-corruption unit (ACU) is also investigating "more than one participant" as part of its inquiry into the Karnataka Premier League (KPL) corruption scandal. The BCCI ACU is conducting its own parallel investigation alongside the one carried out by the Karnataka Police with both agencies exchanging information.

ALSO READ: KPL - Karnataka cricket's problem child?

"Yes, we had knowledge," Singh said on Thursday, when asked if the ACU was aware of any wrongdoings in the KPL. "We are also conducting our own inquiry. But our inquiries are limited to the participants whereas the policy inquiry covers everyone involved.

"They check for violation of (criminal) law, we do it as per the anti-corruption code of the BCCI. There could be more people. We are investigating against more than one participant. Participants covers everyone - players, team officials, owners."

The KPL completed its seventh edition this July-August, with only the 2018 edition having anti-corruption cover after the KSCA availed the services of Ravi Sawani, former general manager of ICC' ACU and subsequently head of BCCI ACU.

Last year, the BCCI sent a directive saying its own ACU would be providing cover for all the leagues run by various state associations including the KPL. However, it's role was restricted to a "supervisory capacity".

According to Singh, two ACU officers were present at every match in the 2019 KPL, operating at both at the ground as well as team hotel. He also clarified that the ACU inquiry had begun right at the start of this season's KPL and not after the police got involved.

"Our inquiry started as we got intelligence and we verified it. It started almost at the beginning of the KPL, when our ACU officers got information that was available on certain players."

Singh also said revelations by the police inquiry was by no means a failure on the ACU's part. "Before we took over to provide cover for the KPL our officers spoke to the KSCA, told them that there is a strong possibility that these matches would be compromised on the basis what he had heard," he said. "Our zonal operations manager had a meeting with them and briefed them prior to the tournament.

"We told them strong anti-corruption measures need to be put in place and you (KSCA) have to be vigilant. They said there would zero tolerance to corruption. So we amply warned them that there is the possibility that these things were going to happen.

"Whatever the police does it helps us because the police has far more power, greater authority and greater resources to collect information. We can't get telephonic information, we can't summon a person, we can't get documents from a hotel - the police can do all that.

"Also, when the ACU took charge at KPL, there was unverified information that came to us. We verified some of it. We also took that to the police. We have interviewed some of the people who are the point of inquiry. We are sharing information with the police, which has got their own sources. Wherever we can supplement the evidence, we are doing that."

The ACU is likely to wrap up his probe by end of November. Singh also believed there was no reason to suspend the KPL until the investigation was over. "Look, if a person is sick, you don't kill it, you cure him," he said. "You just don't ban a league. The fact that action is being taken it will send a strong message. It will make a lot of difference to the integrity of the tournament."

The R Ashwin trade has finally happened with Kings XI Punjab closing a lucrative deal with Delhi Capitals on Thursday. ESPNcricinfo understands the trade is worth INR 7.6 crore (then US$ 1.176 million approx., his auction price in 2018) and an additional undisclosed sum to procure Ashwin.

Also part of the deal is Karnataka spinner J Suchith , who the Capitals have traded to Kings XI as part of the exchange for Ashwin. Suchith was signed as a replacement in IPL 2019 at his base price of INR 20 lakh. The IPL Governing Council will now have to ratify the trade to seal the deal.

Capitals were set to sign Ashwin earlier , but the equation appeared to have changed after Kings XI appointed former India captain and head coach Anil Kumble as their team director. ESPNcricinfo understands that Kumble's first choice was to retain Ashwin, but the player himself wanted to move to Capitals after two underwhelming seasons as captain of the Punjab franchise.

In addition to Suchith, it is believed Kings XI asked Capitals to also trade Trent Boult. The New Zealand fast bowler was signed by Capitals in 2018 for INR 2.2 crore (then US$ 343,000 approx). The understanding was Capitals would then pay the balance amount of INR 5.2 crore (US$ 733,000 approx.) to Kings XI in cash.

However, it is believed Boult himself was not keen, even though IPL contracts do not give a player the power to be part of the trade negotiations. However, Boult was later removed from the bargain, with both franchises settling for Suchith and the undisclosed premium amount.

With the Ashwin acquisition, Capitals will have six frontline spinners in their ranks - the others being Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jalaj Saxena and Axar Patel - though it's important to note the trade window will remain open till November 14.

Ashwin, who turned 33 recently, has been one of the best bowlers over the years in the IPL with his dominance spanning close to a decade, during which he has played for Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant, apart from Kings XI.

Ashwin has proved to be an asset as he can bowl in the Powerplay, dry up runs in the middle overs, and restrict batsmen at the death. Overall, he has taken 125 wickets in 139 IPL matches at an economy rate of 6.79, which is the best among all Indian bowlers with 50-plus wickets in the competition.

Suchith, meanwhile, would be rejoining forces with Kumble after having been together at Mumbai Indians where the latter was team mentor.

A week before he's scheduled to meet with NFL investigators, free-agent wide receiver Antonio Brown said in a profanity-filled tweet that he wants the league to "clear my name" but reiterated that he'll "never play" again in the league that he said treats black players unfairly.

Earlier Thursday, sources told ESPN's Josina Anderson that Brown is scheduled to meet with the NFL next week concerning accusations of sexually assaulting multiple women and that the veteran receiver is eager to present his side.

However, hours later, Brown took to social media to display his frustration with the league.

"Imagine conforming to a system giving it a 100 percent to see them treat me like this is unfairly!" Brown said on Twitter. "Making money off my sweat and blood F--- the @nfl I'll never play in that s--- treat black people the worse! Clear my name and go f--- your self."

Despite Brown initially tweeting Sept. 22 that he "will not be playing in the NFL anymore," sources told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler last month that Brown hopes to have his playing status cleared up before signing with an NFL team.

Sources told ESPN on Thursday that there are teams interested in signing him pending resolution of the league's wide-ranging investigation.

The NFL has yet to interview Brown, and a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that the league was waiting to do so until the majority of its investigation was done. He was released by the New England Patriots in Week 3 after playing in just one game.

Brown is being investigated by the NFL under its personal conduct policy following a lawsuit filed by his former trainer Britney Taylor which alleges she was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions. Brown also was accused of sexual misconduct at his home by an artist who was working there in 2017.

Brown has officially been served lawsuit papers from Taylor, sources told ESPN, and has hired attorney Camille Blanton to accept that service and handle his case. This all happened Friday, and Brown has asked for 45 days to respond.

NFL teams appear to be waiting for the league's findings before signing Brown. Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Saturday that the Seattle Seahawks had been doing their due diligence on Brown prior to the team signing Josh Gordon, and that quarterback Russell Wilson was pushing for the team to sign Brown.

Brown's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said there are "a few teams that are very interested in signing Antonio once this process is over."

On Sept. 20, the NFL released a statement that said Brown would not be placed on the commissioner's exempt list while he is a free agent but warned, "If he is signed by a club, such placement may become appropriate at any time depending on the status of the investigation."

Brown has played in only one game this season -- Week 2 against the Miami Dolphins. He was released by the Oakland Raiders before the season and by the Patriots before Week 3, after it was made known that he sent text messages to the artist accusing him of misconduct.

Brown has filed eight grievances against the Raiders and Patriots, a source told ESPN's Dan Graziano. Brown is seeking $39.775 million in lost salary, bonuses and guaranteed money.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown says he should be "ready to go" Thursday night against the Charlotte Hornets after sitting out the past three games due to an infection.

Brown said he had to go to the hospital five times after initially falling ill prior to an Oct. 30 win in Boston over the Milwaukee Bucks in order to drain an abscess on the inside of his leg that caused the infection, which also led to a high fever.

"I'm glad it's behind me now," Brown said before Thursday's morning shootaround at the Spectrum Center. "I'm feeling a lot better. ... I was pretty down and out."

Brown said he initially started feeling sick after participating in the morning shootaround ahead of that Bucks game, only to eventually have to go to the hospital to begin the process of sorting his health out -- something he said he rarely has to do to.

"I don't really get sick, to be honest," Brown said. "I don't really get sick. Not to jinx myself, but I'm not a person that gets sick too much."

In this case, however, he did, and Brown wound up being missing the past three wins for the Celtics as a result. Brown said he began feeling like himself again Monday, when he returned to practice, but ultimately had to go back to the hospital one final time and thus missed the trip to Cleveland for Tuesday night's victory over the Cavaliers.

Brown said he has been able to keep up his conditioning and did conditioning and strength work this week, so he isn't expecting to face any limitations for Thursday's game.

"I'm in great shape. There shouldn't be any restrictions or anything," he said. "I talked to [coach] Brad [Stevens], so I should be ready to go."

In addition to Brown, Enes Kanter, who has missed the past five games with a left knee contusion suffered in Boston's season-opening loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, said he was a game-time decision for Thursday night. Boston's other banged-up centers, Daniel Theis and Robert Williams, both were listed as probable to play.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If you happened to drive by Daytona Int’l Speedway last week, you may have heard the Mazda RT24-P DPi car turning laps around the 3.56-mile road course.

The car and its drivers turned a lot of laps at DIS last week, then moved a few hours southwest of Daytona to run even more laps at Sebring International Raceway and its legendary, 3.74 miles of bumpy concrete and tarmac.

Mind you, these tests were occurring nearly 90 days before the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship opens with the Rolex 24 At Daytona on Saturday, Jan. 25, and more than 140 days prior to the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts on Saturday, March 16.

So, a good first question would be why so soon?

“The Rolex 24 is the biggest endurance race in the States, it’s the biggest race on the IMSA calendar and it would just be an absolute dream if we could (win) it,” said Harry Tincknell, who co-drove the No. 55 Mazda DPi to its historic first victory in the 2019 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen alongside Jonathan Bomarito and Olivier Pla.

“I mean, I feel like we have the team, we have the car, we have the engine, we have the drivers,” Tincknell continued. “It’s a reality now. I think in the past, a win at the Rolex has been a dream, whereas now it can be a reality. But it’s obviously going to be an incredibly tough race. It’s absolutely relentless and unforgiving.

“It’s the first race of the season. It’s not like we have two or three races to sort of ease our way into the championship. It’s a really brutal schedule from that point of view, which is why we’re here in October testing and getting the reliability sorted.”

Reliability is the next frontier for the Mazda DPi program.

In 2019, the obvious goal for everybody in the program was to finally get that first victory. They poured everything they had into their pursuit of victory, and were finally rewarded not just at Watkins Glen, but in the next two races as well at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

“Everyone says once you get the first one, they all seem to follow,” said Tristan Nunez, who won at CTMP with Oliver Jarvis in the No. 77 Mazda DPi. “Getting three in a row, I think, really showed that and we had strong showings since then. We were really close at [Motul] Petit [Le Mans on Oct. 12], but didn’t quite get there. We had some bad luck at the end.

“But as a whole, we’re there now. We’re in the first with the big teams. I think all the other teams see that. They’re not just seeing us as the Mazdas on track. They see us as a competitor, strong, and I think they’re a little bit worried about what we’re going to show this [2020] season. I think the big pressure’s out of the way now, getting that first win for Mazda. Now, it’s just continuing that momentum, getting podiums, and I think we’re going to go for a championship this season.”

And a key step to achieving that goal is to have a strong 36 Hours of Florida to start the 2020 campaign. Hence the reason they’ve already logged so many testing miles less than a month into the so-called “offseason.”

“I think 2020 is the year that we go for the championship,” Tincknell said. “That’s the year where we match consistency with winning speed. This year, it was gung-ho every race, just try and get a victory. We didn’t really hold anything back. We took a lot of risk to get those victories.

“Whereas, I think in 2020, if we can have a bit more reliability in the first two races and be up there in the championship, then we can maybe just pick and choose our moments a little bit more. Instead of going for gung-ho, 100 percent, maybe just be a little bit more risk averse and just keep scoring the points.

“Because, at the end of the season, that’s what gets you into the title fight is the consistency rather than the big highs followed by big lows. We had some massive highs in 2019 and we also had some lows. We’ve just got to be a little bit more consistent and I think that’s going to be the difference.”

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – Joe Gibbs Racing has set its crew chief roster next season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for drivers Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst and Harrison Burton.

Jeff Meendering will return as crew chief for Jones and the No. 19 Toyota Supra team for next season as the pair emerge as the veterans of JGR’s Xfinity Series program. In his first season with Jones, the duo scored Jones’ first Xfinity Series win on Oct. 19 at Kansas Speedway and have recorded six top-five finishes, 15 top-10 finishes while leading 104 laps.

“I’m having so much fun racing in the Xfinity Series right now and I’m really happy to have Jeff (Meendering) back next year,” said Jones. “We got our first win together this year and having Jeff and the team stay together on our No. 19 Toyota Supra allows us to build on that momentum. We are focused on finishing out this season strong and working hard to have a fast start to 2020 beginning in Daytona.”

Dave Rogers will return to crew chief duties to lead the No. 18 Toyota Supra team with rookie contender Riley Herbst. No stranger to the top of the pit box or JGR’s Xfinity Series program, Rogers has worked with many drivers over the course of his career. Rogers career numbers in the Xfinity Series are impressive and include 20 wins, 51 top-five finishes, 82 top-10 finishes, 24 pole starting positions and over 3,000 laps led in 128 starts.

“I’m really going to lean on Dave Rogers next season to learn as much as I can,” said Herbst. “He’s had so much success over the years with a number of different drivers and to have a veteran like him will really help as I continue to learn each week on the track. I’m looking forward to continuing to get to know him and build our relationship as we prepare for Daytona and the 2020 season.”

In his second season as crew chief at JGR, Ben Beshore will move to the No. 20 Toyota Supra team to lead Burton for his rookie season. Beshore moved from an engineer on JGR’s Cup program to Xfinity Series crew chief for the 2019 season and has worked with seven different drivers throughout the season, including Burton. Beshore and Burton have teamed up for eight starts during the season with one top-five finish and four top-10 finishes. With two races left in the season, Beshore and Burton will have their last showing together in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 16 before shifting to the 2020 season and the No. 20 Toyota Supra team.

“I’m excited to get the 2020 season started and continue building on the relationship that I have with Ben (Beshore) and the entire group at JGR,” said Burton. “This year has really helped me and I’m ready to take the next step in my career with JGR and the No. 20 team.”

“We’ve got a great line up for our Xfinity program for 2020 with Brandon (Jones) really hitting his stride and both Riley (Herbst) and Harrison (Burton) continuing to develop and grow their careers,” said Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development for Joe Gibbs Racing. “I believe we have the right people in place with Jeff Meendering, Dave Rogers and Ben Beshore leading the 19, 18 and 20 teams. We look forward to each competing for race wins and ultimately a 2020 championship, along with Riley and Harrison contending for Rookie of the Year honors.”

Former captains will almost universally confirm that the most difficult part of the gig is the captain’s picks. As a leader you want to assure your choices fit seamlessly into the team and compliment the players who qualified, and as a friend you’re often forced to make tough choices and even tougher phone calls to players you didn’t select.

True to his longtime nickname, Ernie Els didn’t seem to be feeling any of those pressures last month when asked about his impending captains picks for this year’s Presidents Cup. The Big Easy even went so far as to opine that Tiger Woods, his captain counterpart for the U.S. team later this year in Australia, had tougher choices to make.

“Tiger, for sure. I don’t have to worry about picking myself,” Els laughed.

On Wednesday, Els was again asked about Woods’ choices and specifically if the U.S. captain should pick himself to play at Royal Melbourne next month. “I don't think he's got any choice,” the South African laughed.

When Woods names his four picks late Thursday the only real surprise will be whether he forgoes any suspense and names himself off the top or draws the show out and waits to be the last selection. He finished 13^th in final qualifying and won his only start this fall two weeks ago at the Zozo Championship.

If there were any lingering concerns about his post-Masters swoon or his offseason knee surgery, he quickly quieted them with his commanding victory in Japan against a deep field and under difficult conditions.

Hale Irwin has been the only playing captain at the Presidents Cup when he pulled double duty at the 1994 matches, but in this case it doesn’t seem either historic or contrived for Tiger to name himself. Els is correct that Woods really doesn’t have a choice. Tiger’s play over the last 15 months more than justifies the pick and, most importantly, the players who have already qualified for the U.S. team want this captain to be of the playing variety.

There’s also the novelty that this year’s Presidents Cup might be the only opportunity for a playing captain.

When Woods was named this year’s captain in March 2018, the PGA Tour also announced a format change that reduced the number of team sessions a player must play before Sunday from two to one. For Woods that’s built-in load management.

Just south of getting his captain’s picks correct the primary challenge during the matches, either at a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup, is crafting the proper pairings. This job is magnified at the Ryder Cup where the first two days include two sessions each. At the Presidents Cup, only Saturday includes an afternoon session which means that Woods would likely skip the morning frame in order to focus on the afternoon pairings.

“[At the Presidents Cup] we submit our pairings post-round, in the Ryder Cup it’s not like that. You have to figure out, probably 12 to 13 holes into the match who is going to go back out in the afternoon,” Woods said. “If you’re a playing captain you couldn’t figure out who is going in the afternoon if you were playing in the morning. You’d have to rely on your vice captains to submit [the afternoon line-up] or have your vice captains give you a bunch of information while you’re playing and you still have to figure out how to win your match, that would be a lot to handle.”

At Royal Melbourne, Woods will have no such issues. Depending on how he feels and how his team is performing, the captain will have the ultimate flexibility of playing once or twice before Sunday and compartmentalizing his duties as player and captain.

It’s the kind of luxury a Ryder Cup captain simply doesn’t have and why this year’s matches are likely the only chance for Woods, or any other captain, to pull double duty.

“As a captain, no. As a vice captain you could probably do it,” Woods said when asked if he could envision ever seeing a playing captain in the Ryder Cup. “As a playing captain now, with the amount of responsibilities and trying to get pairings submitted for the afternoon sessions and all that, it’s just gotten so much more complicated compared to what Arnold [Palmer] had when he played. You just couldn’t do it now.”

When Woods was named the captain of this year’s team, he envisioned it marking a new chapter in his career as he came to grips with the uncertainty of his competitive future. Nearly two wildly successful years later, the decision has only added a twist to an ongoing chapter.

“If I do play one of the things I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the last couple years [as a vice captain] is listening in over the earpiece,” Woods said. “The stuff we say is priceless.”

Woods will select himself tonight and savor this rare opportunity to enjoy both, his earpiece and his spot in the lineup.