Tiger chases new tale
Hopes for carryover of his success to team
SAINT-QUENTIN-ENYVELINES, France — Tiger Woods paused on his walk toward the 18th green at Le Golf National and threw his head back in laughter. These are happy times for Woods.
Now if he can get that to translate in the Ryder Cup.
For all his amazing feats in golf — 80 victories on the PGA Tour, the most recent on Sunday at the Tour Championship after returning following a fourth back surgery that threatened to end his career — Woods has been on only one winning team at the Ryder Cup. That was nearly 20 years ago and required a record comeback on the final day.
His own record is 13-17-3, a product of being on six losing teams.
“Looking back on my entire Ryder Cup career, that’s not something that I have really enjoyed and I’ve really liked seeing,” Woods said. “I’ve played a lot of matches. Of those seven previous Ryder Cups, I’ve sat out one session. My overall Ryder Cup record, not having won as a player since 1999, is something that hopefully we can change. We haven’t won as a U.S. squad here in 25 years on foreign soil. So hopefully, that will change this week, as well.”
Woods used to get defensive about his record, pointing out that no one could recite the Ryder Cup record of Jack Nicklaus (178-3 during an era of U.S. dominance), but that everyone knew Nicklaus had won 18 majors.
One element Woods faced every two years was trying to be on a team of 12 players even as the golfing world saw it as Tiger Woods and 11 other Americans. He was 21 when he played his first Ryder Cup in 1997 and already was the sport’s biggest star.
Back in the Ryder Cup as a player for the first time in six years, Woods is in the spotlight again. One year ago, he was riding in a cart as a vice captain in the Presidents Cup, having played one PGA Tour event in two years with no certainty there would be another. And then he made yesterday look like yesteryear with a wire-to-wire win at the Tour Championship, his first trophy in more than five years and the feeling that more was to come.
Woods still hasn’t altogether grasped the significance of the victory at East Lake. He headed straight to France on the charter flight, had a team dinner and then was out in the chill of yesterday morning for his first look at Le Golf National.
“Are they good?” Woods asked about the TV ratings. NBC said the final round was the highest-rated Tour Championship on record since 1991.
U.S. captain Jim Furyk tried to tone down the hype, though hard to ignore that it was a “boost for everyone, and I think for Tiger in general. It’s cool.”
“The arms up in the air on 18, it looks like that’s going to be a cover on maybe about 100 magazines this week,” Furyk said of Woods’ victory pose. “You could tell it was significant for him. I know how important this event is to all 12 guys and to Tiger, as well.”
Phil Mickelson, who also has a losing record (18-207), joined Woods, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed in a practice round yesterday. Mickelson then caused a small stir by saying he and Woods would welcome the chance to play together. Will it happen?
“I do have an idea of what Captain Furyk is thinking, yeah,” Mickelson said with a grin, allowing for no other detail.
The best personal mark Woods ever had at the Ryder Cup was the only other time he was a captain’s pick, going 3-1 in Wales. He failed to win a match in his most recent Ryder Cup, going 0-3-1 at Medinah when Europe rallied to win on the last day.
Woods, however, is more than six years removed from the Ryder Cup. The next generation of Americans looked up to him as the legendary figure who inspired them when they were kids. Now he’s back as their peer, feeling as much a part of the team as ever, no matter whose picture is on the cover of magazines.