Tiger will be on prowl in Paris
To have Woods is a great asset
TIGER WOODS will be part of the United States team at the next Ryder Cup, American captain Jim Furyk confirmed yesterday.
Whether that is as a player, after receiving clearance from doctors to resume a full practice schedule this week, or as a vice-captain will be determined by the success of his comeback after back surgery.
However, Furyk was unequivocal in spelling out that Woods needs to clear his diary for Paris next September.
After firing balls off the Eiffel Tower with European counterpart Thomas Bjorn as part of the French capital’s (almost) Year To Go event, Furyk returned to ground level to reveal Woods – one way or the other – will be an integral part of his team.
“Yesterday Tiger posted a video of him swinging a driver,” said Furyk. “The swing that I saw on that video looked a lot like Tiger Woods. It reminded me of his swing of the past.
“It probably still needed a little speed but I’ve been told he has been cleared to continue kind of all golf activities and that’s great news.
“Tiger Woods is a great resource and would be a welcome addition to the team, whether that would be as playing personnel or whether as a vice-captain.
“That’s a conversation I haven’t had with him yet but it is one I will have in the future when we see where he stands with his playing.
“We have guys my age whose rear ends he kicked for a lot of years, so there is a respect and a lot of young guys who basically played golf because they wanted to be like Tiger Woods. He was their hero.
“So having him in a team room is a great asset.
“I would hope that he would want to be a part of it and I would love to have him as well.”
Woods was a vicecaptain under Davis Love III at Hazeltine last year as the United States won back the Ryder Cup. And after the Americans crushed the International team at the Presidents Cup, Europe look to have their work cut out at Le Golf National.
But Bjorn, who struck the first blow for Europe by out-driving Furyk off the most elevated tee either man is ever likely to experience, believes he will be able to assemble a competitive team for what will be only the second Ryder Cup after Valderrama in 1997 to be staged on the Continent.
“I looked at the world rankings this morning and there are 11 European players in the top 21. You tell me a time when there’s been 11 Europeans in the top 21 in the world,” said Bjorn. “I remember being 55th in Detroit [as a vice-captain at the 2004 Ryder Cup] and there were three players on our team below me in the rankings. And that team won. We will have a very strong European team.”
Hazeltine was Bjorn’s first loss after three wins as a player and three as vice-captain, and he added: “Those Sunday nights when we’ve won Ryder Cups are some of the moments I will treasure the most in my life. I’ll do everything in my power to deliver a team that can win the Ryder Cup.”
Bjorn hopes world No14 Paul Casey will end his self-imposed Ryder Cup exile but it is the emergence of a man ranked three places below him, Tyrrell Hatton, 26, that has delivered Europe a bonus.
Successive wins at the Alfred Dunhill Links and Italian Open make the Englishman the hottest player around at present.
“Tyrrell is not scared of finishing off tournaments,” said Bjorn. “He’d be a guy that if he came in as a rookie you could see him being out there wanting to win points.”