Forget Tiger Woods; Couples is a more deserving Prez Cup pick

Two days after challenging would-be Presidents Cup contestant Tiger Woods to play more golf, U.S. captain Fred Couples showed No. 33 exactly what he meant.

Couples fired a 5-under 66 on Friday to play himself into a one-stroke lead after two rounds of the Senior Players Championship, the final major of the Champions Tour season. The popular Couples headed into Saturday at 8-under, a feat all the more remarkable because he was just six weeks removed from receiving unconventional treatment in Germany for his balky back.

"It's a blood-work procedure, stuff they don't do in America," Couples told PGATour.com on Wednesday. He said that several athletes, including professional golfers, had undergone similar regimens in Dusseldorf.

For the 51-year-old Couples, six sessions in five days did the trick. "I'm getting a little stiffer but the pain is gone," he said.

Fred Couples (l.) congratulates Tiger Woods for clinching the 2009 Presidents Cup (Photo: David Cannon/Getty Images)

Hmmm. Wasn't there another golfer who had some sort of non-traditional blood-work done to relieve his ailments? Oh, yeah -- it was the same Tiger Woods to whom Couples issued a "play or stay home" ultimatum earlier this week. (While rehabbing after knee surgery in 2008, Woods underwent a controversial blood-spinning therapy administered by unlicensed Canadian doctor Anthony Galea. Galea has since pleaded guilty to distributing banned substances to professional athletes in the U.S.)

While their afflictions and blood-related remedies may have differed, Woods and Couples have traveled similar, injury-riddled paths of late. The former took a malady-related furlough from competitive golf after withdrawing from the Players Championship in May. He returned to the PGA Championship last week, only to miss the cut and be gone after two rounds.

Couples, for his part, called it quits temporarily after missing the cut at the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament at the end of May. This week’s competition was only his sixth on the Championship Tour this season.

Now, the two virtual blood brothers appeared to be moving in opposite directions. One was back on the course with a potential W in his sights; the other had no plans to return to golf until the Australian Open in November, a week before the Presidents Cup.

With Woods No. 28 in Presidents Cup points (not to be confused with his 33rd-place standing in the world golf rankings) but the owner of a 5-0 record in the same event two years ago in San Francisco, Captain Fred had a decision to make.

"I really want [Woods] on the team based on, in my opinion, that he's been the best player 10 straight years," Couples told reporters on Wednesday. "[But] he needs to play a little bit. He can't just show up the week before in Australia. I think he's way up on the list to be chosen to play."

At this point, the guy getting the reps and leading a tourney after two rounds might make a more sensible wild-card pick for the U.S. vs. Internationals tilt than the one who failed to make the FedEx Cup playoffs and had no tee time scheduled until November (except, of course, for his pal Notah Begay III's charity tourney later this month). Since the captain himself was not in the running -- although newly minted PGA champ Keegan Bradley and young stud Rickie Fowler most definitely were -- it remained to be seen whether Woods would accept Couple’s conditions or sit on the sidelines come November 17 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.