RYDE' THE WAVE
U.S. can harness energy from Tiger win ahead of Cup
SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France — There was no word Monday whether Tiger Woods flew the U.S. Ryder Cup team charter from Atlanta to Paris overnight, but he was so high off of his euphoric Tour Championship victory Sunday, he probably could have flown the plane over the Atlantic without its engines firing.
The immediate question moving forward from Woods’ momentous first win in 1,876 days dating back to 2013 is this: What will the Tiger effect be this week?
Will the buzz from Woods’ win at East Lake in Atlanta remain in the U.S. team room and further energize his American teammates as they try to win a Ryder Cup on foreign soil for the first time in 25 years?
Will it be a disadvantage for the Europeans? Or might it provide a silver bullet for Europe in that if its players can take down Woods in any match, it could provide an added shot of adrenaline and confidence to their side?
We won’t know the answers to any of these questions for a few days since the matches don’t begin until Friday.
But this much is certain: Woods’ win will help Woods, who finally is liberated after playing so well for so much of this comeback year without tasting the nectar of victory until Sunday.
Woods’ Tour Championship win was not just popular in the Woods household and among the masses of golf fans. It was wildly popular among his fellow players, with many of his Ryder Cup teammates waiting on the 18th green to congratulate him after his win Sunday.
“It’s obviously a nice buzz for our team,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said Monday. “Not that this event needs much more energy brought to it — it’s probably the biggest, the grandest event in all of golf — but [Woods’ win] will add that much more excitement, I believe.”
European captain Thomas Bjorn even sounded jazzed up by Woods’ win.
“I spent 25 years playing professional golf with Tiger Woods on the scene, and any time he does anything great, that’s a story and that’s where we want to see him,” Bjorn said Monday. “We want to see him at the top of the game. He does so much for the game of golf. Watching that [Sunday] night, I thought it was brilliant to watch. It was great for the game.
“[But] coming into this week, these are 24 of the best players in the world, and this tournament has its history and it’s a great battle and it is 12 against 12. We don’t fear anyone because we’ve played against them so many times before individually, but we respect our opponents and know what we are up against.”
Woods is playing in his eighth career Ryder Cup but first since 2012 as a result of his back injuries. He was a vice captain in 2016. His Ryder Cup record scares no one — 13-17-3 overall, with a 5-8 record in fourballs (best ball), 4-8-1 in foursomes (alternate shot) and 4-1-2 in singles.
Woods, for all of his individual brilliance, steps into a completely different arena this week. But it’s an arena he’s grown to embrace over the years — so much so the team events during the past few years while he’s battled his back injuries provided him a bit of a lifeline and drew him closer to the younger players while being a vice captain.
Woods’ chemistry with these younger players is at an all-time high right now and can’t help but be an edge for the U.S. team.
“Tiger Woods winning golf tournaments is something that’s brilliant and I think we all benefit from it,” Bjorn said. “Because in the end, whatever it is these 24 guys are going to do this week, the game of golf needs that boost of somebody like him that transcends the game to the masses. It needs him at the top of the game. So for everyone in golf, it’s brilliant.”
Unless Woods plays a massive role in the U.S. bringing the chalice back to America on Monday. Then the Tiger effect will have had a negative impact on Bjorn and his European team.