Johannesburg — I SUPPOSE it would be churlish to whine about Greg Norman choosing a fellow Australian in Adam Scott as one of his captain's picks for next month's Presidents Cup at the expense of South African Rory Sabbatini, given that our Gary Player did the same thing in 2005.

Player chose Trevor Immelman, whose only point came in the first-day foursomes, where he and Mike Weir beat Stewart Cink and David Toms. The Americans won 18½ to 15½.

When Player got all parochial by choosing Immelman, who was ranked 22nd in the Cup standings at the time, he was widely criticised. But Player pointed to Immelman's record in the Majors that year -- tied fifth at the US Masters, 15th at The Open Championship and 17th in the PGA Championship.

Scott has nothing this year. He missed the cut in all Majors but the US Open, where he was tied for 36th, and has only two top 10 finishes .

Norman knew his decision would draw flak, and that's not going to stop a guy like him, so here's hoping he's right and Scott comes good. I reckon Sabbatini's fighting qualities would have been better though.

As for Norman's selection of Japan's Ryo Ishikawa, just 17, I hang my head in despair.

The tournament, from October 6-11, is in the US -- at Harding Park in San Francisco -- and I suspect the teenager, known in Japan as the "Shy Prince", is going to find it difficult having the American crowd, a noisy and sometimes impolite bunch, shouting against him for a change.

At the BMW Championships at Cog Hill in Lemont, Illinois, at the weekend, it looked like Sabbatini was really going to rub Norman's nose in it, taking the first-round lead with a five- under-par 66. But he fizzled out after that and I wonder if Norman didn't let out a little sigh of relief.

Somebody who certainly did not fizzle out was Tiger Woods, who notched up career victory No 71, just two behind Jack Nicklaus and fast closing in on record-holder Sam Snead's 82.

Woods took control of the tournament in the third round with a nine-under 62. It was an awesome display of how good he really is when all parts of his game are working well. The one slightly vulnerable area of Woods' game this year has been his driving, while sometimes the putter has gone dead, as with any golfer. On Saturday it was all working with Tigeresque precision and he blew the field away to make it all a bit of a yawn on Sunday as he had a seven-shot lead to start with and an eight-shot one to finish with.

Interestingly, the man who is obsessed with surpassing Nicklaus's tally of 18 Major titles, said this year was one of his most successful even though he never landed any of the big ones.

"Absolutely, it's one of my best years," said Woods, after his win. "There's no doubt about that. I haven't won as many times as I did in 2000 and didn't win any Majors this year. But I've never had a year where I've been this consistent, either, this many high finishes and the number of events I've played.

"To have an opportunity just about every time I tee it up to win the championship on the back nine, that's something that I can't tell you how proud I am."

n How cool is Angel Cabrera? The Masters champion had his stock raised substantially among the touring caddies when he bought their meals -- breakfast and lunch -- for the entire week of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

The caddie whose player won the previous week traditionally picks up the tab for one meal (breakfast or lunch). Some players have been known to pay for one meal after a win. But a player paying for an entire week? "That's unheard of," said Chuck Mohr, Bob Estes's caddie.

Cabrera simply said the gesture was overdue. After winning the Masters, he said he "wanted to give the guys a present", but his playing schedule hadn 't allowed him an opportunity sooner.

"It is customary in Argentina that when you win a tournament, you invite the caddies to dinner," said Cabrera, who started out as a caddie himself. "I was just waiting for the right time."