'Can't do it': Extraordinary new details emerge in Tiger Woods' heroics

Tiger Woods enjoyed a record-breaking performance as playing captain during the United States' historic Presidents Cup triumph.

Woods led the way with a record 27th match win at the Presidents Cup to inspire the USA's eighth consecutive victory over the Internationals in Melbourne last week.

DROP THE MIC: Tiger's brutal one-liner for vanquished opponent

However it has since been revealed that the American superstar led his side to victory while not 100 per cent.

The 15-time major champion – who underwent back surgery in 2017 and had a knee operation in August – surprisingly sat out the entire third day on Saturday, skipping the morning four-balls and afternoon foursomes at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

Woods returned for Sunday's singles and maintained his flawless record as the USA became the first team to win the Presidents Cup after trailing heading into the final day, and assistant captain Fred Couples explained why the 43-year-old did not play on Saturday.

"Maybe the first time I wanted to throw up with my headset on, at about 10 o'clock, [Woods] said, 'Guys, my body is not going to let me go. I'm not going to play this afternoon'," Couples said on his Sirius XM Radio show.

"Of course, [Steve] Stricker hopped on and said, 'Tiger please, can you go in right now and get loose and warm?' He said, 'Strick, I can't do it.' Zach [Johnson] said, "Tiger, are you sure, you sure?'

"[Woods] said, 'I believe in the team,' and I'm like, 'Yeah, so do I, but I believe that you need to be playing'.

"So that was like a 10-minute gasp and then we got over it. We regrouped and made a new team and they went out and won."

Tiger’s incredible career turnaround

Two years ago the future for Woods looked bleak to the point of darkness.

Four back surgeries, countless knee operations, marital strife and run-ins with the law meant Woods had not won a major since 2008, had no tournament victories since 2013 and had seen his world ranking plummet to 656.

But on Sunday, US player-captain Tiger Woods capped a year that has seen one of the most memorable comebacks in sporting history by driving his team to a 16-14 victory over Ernie Els’ Internationals in the 13th Presidents Cup in Melbourne.

The second coming of Tiger began with a drought-ending victory at the Tour Championship 15 months ago and accelerated with a 15th major and fifth green jacket at the US Masters in Augusta.

Having returned to the world's top 10, Woods needed yet more surgery to his troublesome left knee in August before writing another remarkable chapter of his storied career.

In his first tournament appearance after the arthroscopic operation, Woods equalled Sam Snead's record of 82 US PGA Tour wins when he won the inaugural Zozo Championship in Japan.

"It's been an amazing year," a beaming Woods told Golf TV in Melbourne. "I'm speechless.

"To have won a major championship, a green jacket, to have tied Sam and to have won a cup with all these guys, I couldn't have asked for a better year."

with AFP