A STAR AND STRIPES
Talisman Tiger makes US believe they can clinch back-to-back Ryder Cup victories
AHEAD of the junior Ryder Cup earlier in the week, the youngsters from Europe and America found themselves on the same putting green as the senior combatants.
They ALL swarmed towards only one man.
And it was not Thorbjorn Olesen or Webb Simpson.
On foreign soil, with the strongest-ever collection of players assembled for a Ryder Cup, the figure of Tiger Woods still manages to tower over proceedings.
He can only win a maximum of five points, his Ryder Cup record is nothing to shout about, he has been on the winning side just once in seven appearances, there are 11 players here with a better world ranking. Yet still he is key. With Rory McIlroy (right) leading the way, the Europeans have been lining up to stress how they would see beating Tiger as no different from beating any other American.
They have been protesting too much. Over three days, Woods will be playing with the stars and stripes on his sleeve and a target on his back.
When Phil Mickelson said he had never seen Woods (left) strike it better, it was meant for European ears.
Never mind he has not been part of a winning Ryder Cup team on European soil, Tiger is the US talisman. And they believe he writes his own scripts – and the script would have him following up that remarkable comeback win by leading the Americans to a triumph here. That scenario motivates his team-mates.
Rickie Fowler spoke about it just ahead of the opening ceremony, his reference to the “homeward stretch” suggesting the younger element in the team believe that, if this is not Tiger’s and Mickelson’s last Ryder Cup, it will certainly be their last away from home.
Fowler said: “Phil and Tiger are on their homeward stretch. To have them as part of the team is priceless, in a
way. They bring a lot of intangibles. And for them to be here, we are in a position with a chance to do something special. Tiger and Phil have never won over here – I know that would maybe help cap off a missing piece in their careers.”
It was a theme that ran through the American build-up as they look for that first win in Europe since 1993. The picture for Thomas Bjorn’s team is broader. A loss here would mean back-to-back defeats for the first time since 1991 and that loss, two years later, at The Belfry. The wealth of young talent that makes America favourite for this showdown could threaten an era of domination.
That favouritism does not take any heat off the Europeans. Jim Furyk’s team might well boast nine players good enough to have won Majors, and is certainly the stronger line-up on paper, but Bjorn has been able to set up Le Golf National to suit his players.
Of the 60,000 who will pack the grandstands and cover the mounds of this magnificent course, most will be cheering the Europeans. And in the likes of McIlroy and Justin Rose, Europe has its own bona fide megastars, capable of truly inspirational deeds.
But Tiger’s re-emergence as a leader has just made this Ryder Cup an even more mouth-watering prospect than the sport-loving world thought possible.
It will not be a case of take Tiger down and take the American team down – but it would go a long way towards Europe reclaiming the trophy after what will surely be one of the sporting events of the year.