Thursday, 20 September 2018:
Tiger Woods has gone into bat for his fellow American golfers who declined to take part in the upcoming golf World Cup in Melbourne, asking Australian fans to appreciate the sentimentality of Thanksgiving.
The unofficial US PGA Tour event, to be held at Metropolitan Golf Club from November 22-25, has come under heavy scrutiny since the top 28 eligible players were revealed last week.
Australian world No.22 Marc Leishman will be the highest-ranked player among the 56-man field, with no golfer within the top 20 on the world rankings accepting the invitation to travel down under for the two-man teams event.
Fans were treated at the 2016 edition in Melbourne when superstar Rickie Fowler represented Team USA alongside then reigning US PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, while this year's American team will feature world No.27 Kyle Stanley and No.32 Matt Kuchar.
But 14-time major Woods said Thanksgiving Day, which falls on November 22, was a time American players dedicated to spending with their families at home in the US.
From world No.2 Brooks Koepka to No.25 Phil Mickelson, 14 American golfers were unavailable for the World Cup.
"I think a lot of it is dependent on what country you're from," Woods said.
"For us as Americans, Thanksgiving is a very important time of the year for us.
"Other parts of the world probably don't look at it that way, so probably it's a little bit easier.
"It depends on where you're from and other players have different holidays; (for Europeans) mid-summer is a big deal.
"Some of the guys that are going to head down there (to Australia) probably will bring their family along and enjoy it."
Woods and long-time rival Mickelson are set to stage a winner-takes-all $US9 million ($A12 million) exhibition match in Las Vegas the day after Thanksgiving, but is only likely to take a day out of the superstars' schedule.
Woods also needs to be in the Bahamas the week after the World Cup to host his Hero World Challenge event, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation.
