MELBOURNE • Captain Tiger Woods will lead from the front when the United States begin their Presidents Cup defence, after picking himself and world No. 4 Justin Thomas for today's opening four-ball match at Royal Melbourne.

They will tee off against Australian Marc Leishman and Chilean rookie Joaquin Niemann from Ernie Els' International team.

Woods said yesterday: "We had a game plan - who we wanted to start out and we were committed to putting Justin and myself out there, and that's who we're rolling with."

Vice-captain Fred Couples said he expected Woods would play at least three matches over the four days of the biennial matchplay clash. The 15-time Major winner has a record of 24 wins, 15 losses and one half at the Cup, second only to Phil Mickelson's 26 wins.

Steve Stricker will be captain while he is on the course.

Woods resisted any temptation to leave Patrick Reed on the sidelines for the first day, after a row sparked by the two-stroke penalty for moving sand and improving his lie in the Bahamas last week.

But International captain Els omitted Australian Cameron Smith, who called Reed a cheat.

Dustin Johnson, who has not played since August after major knee surgery, will team up with Gary Woodland against Mexican Abraham Ancer and Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa.

The former world No. 1 skipped the Hero World Challenge, Woods' charity event in the Bahamas.

He said: "I was close to ready, I just didn't feel like I was 100 per cent. I just wanted that extra week to be ready for this. I felt like the extra 10 days was a big help. There was no issue with my knee. Everything has gone very well."

Even if not fully fit, his outstanding record of eight wins, four losses and two halves in three editions might make him worth the gamble.

"I'll play as many as Tiger wants me to play. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't ready to play," he added.

Els has a young team, with five of his seven rookies employed on the opening day, and said that leaving out Smith in front of his home fans was part of the bigger picture.

"I'll tell you on Sunday night what exactly has transpired, but we have a system we are following, and I can't let anything out of the bag more than that," he said. "But there are enough Australians out there tomorrow to rally a lot of guys."

The International team have won the title once, back in 1998 at Royal Melbourne. The Americans, who won 19-11 in 2017 on home soil, have a proud record of 10 titles and one draw in 12 editions.

That has not dampened Australian Adam Scott's enthusiasm. At 39, the former No. 1 is the oldest on the youngest International team ever and is the highest-ranked among the 12 men at No. 18. The average ranking of the US team is 12.3.

Scott, a veteran of nine editions, said: "This is a great opportunity for us, it really is. I've had a good feeling for the last couple months about the way our team shaped up.

"It's not a lot of fun getting beaten all the time."

With one point awarded for a win in each match, the first team to 151/2 points will secure the Cup.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS