Woods turns down Ryder Cup mission for sponsors’ event
American refuses invite to scout Paris course Thomas only US player entered at France Open
Tiger Woods is poised to attend a sponsors’ day in England rather than accept the United States captain Jim Furyk’s invite to join him on a Ryder Cup reconnaissance here next month.
Woods has been appointed by Furyk as vice-captain in September and has declared that he intends to take on an unprecedented dual role as a player as well.
Yet Woods’s eagerness apparently does not extend to helping Furyk and other potential members of the team scout out this Le Golf National layout, just outside Paris.
As has been reported, Furyk will lead a playing party to this course on the Saturday before the Open in just over a fortnight’s time.
Furyk has already been resigned to being without Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar, who are all entered to play in that week’s Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.
Woods’s absence would be another blow and would inevitably lead to questions about his newfound commitment to the US cause.
The 42-year-old was praised for his influence in the team room as a vice-captain at Hazeltine two years ago, where America won for the first time in eight years.
Afterwards, the then captain Davis Love revealed the relish with which Woods took to the role, as he was constantly in touch talking tactics in the months building up.
While in his playing pomp, the 14-time major winner was always depicted as an intimidating loner within the group, but suddenly the vulnerable Woods was cast as the ultimate team man.
It is not clear who will accompany Furyk, but he can only pray there are more than the two players who answered Tom Watson’s call to visit Gleneagles on the corresponding weekend four years ago (one of whom was Furyk, himself). The whisper is that Jordan Spieth and Bubba Watson are intending to show up.
Meanwhile, unless he alters his plans, Woods will be at a photo shoot with Rory Mcilroy in London. Woods will then travel to Carnoustie, where he will presumably play his first Open practice round on Sunday.
Like the overwhelming majority of the likely US team, Woods has yet to appear at Le Golf National. He is playing at this week’s PGA Tour event in Washington DC – the Quickens Loans National – and, as he is tournament host and it benefits his charitable foundation, there was never any chance he would tee it up in the France Open, which starts here tomorrow.
But Jon Rahm, the Spaniard who is all but guaranteed to make his Ryder Cup debut in three months’ time, is surprised that, out of the Americans, only world No2 Justin Thomas has taken the opportunity to play the course under tournament conditions, especially as the purse is £6.2 million, with a first prize of £915,000.
When asked if he believed that Thomas was here with the Ryder Cup in mind, Rahm replied: “I would say his only reason is to scout the course.”
Rahm added: “I thought there would be more players from the US team. I thought there were going to be at least four or five. And if it
‘I thought the Americans would come to show their interest, show that they can compete’
wasn’t the players that were already in guaranteed, maybe the people who are on the edge. I thought they were going to come to show their interest, and maybe if they had a good week, they can show that they can compete on this course.
“But I also understand that there’s a lot of good tournaments going on right now on the PGA Tour and it’s hard to change the schedule in that way because they will just come to one week and back to the States and get ready for the Open. I understand it’s tough.”
Of the eight players in the top 12 of the European standings, eight are playing, with only Mcilroy, Justin Rose and Paul Casey missing. That trio have all previously played in this tournament, which happens to be the oldest national open in continental Europe.