RYDER CUP

was 5.21, the highest-rated telecast in the 12-year history of the FedEx Cup playoffs, which cover 48 events featuring some of the strongest fields of the year.

That was the highest rating of the year this side of the majors, and the highest for the Tour Championship dating to 2000.

“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,” Bjorn said. “So for everyone in golf, it’s brilliant.”

Now that Woods is back on his game, the hope for Furyk and the U.S. team is that he’s not back to Ryder Cup form.

For all that he has achieved — 80 victories on the PGA Tour, 14 majors,

No. 1 in the world for 683 weeks — he has a 13-17-3 record in Ryder Cup matches, and he has played on only one winning team since his first one in 1997.

“We don’t fear anyone because we’ve played against them so many times before individually,” Bjorn said. “But we respect our opponents and know what we are up against. What stands on the other side we know is one of the strongest American teams of all time. ... We do what we do as a European team, and then we go out and take that on the golf course, and that’s all 12 Americans. It’s not one individual.”

Europe has done it well over the years.

The Americans have not won the Ryder Cup away from home since 1993, a drought Furyk has been hearing about since he was appointed captain in January 2017. The Americans

have confidence from winning big at Hazeltine two years ago — Woods was a vice captain that week — and from a team that boasts nine major champions.

That makes them favorites on paper. And that means little, as recent history would suggest. Even with the loss two years ago, Europe still has won eight out of the last 11 times dating to that ‘93 American victory at The Belfry.

“I’m not sure you really need extra motivation in a Ryder Cup,” Furyk said. “Obviously, I think there’s a thorn in their side, and it’s been that since 1993, and there’s some veteran players that have played on a number of these teams that have never won on foreign soil. It’s not anything I need to mention in the team room. They are well aware of it, and they are well aware of how difficult it is to win in Europe.”