Taking blame
Golfer says he didn’t do enough to lift USA in recent Ryder Cups
Tiger Woods says the USA’s Ryder Cup losses are on him,
MEDINAH, ILL. Since making his debut in the 1997 Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods has won 13 of his 14 major championships and 68 of his 74 PGA Tour titles, including 16 World Golf Championships.
But he’s been on just one winning Ryder Cup team. The former world No. 1, who was rehabbing a surgically repaired left knee when the USA last won in 2008, said Tuesday at Medinah Country Club that he was to blame for the Europeans winning six of the last eight matches.
“Certainly I am responsible for that, because I didn’t earn the points that I was put out there for,” said Woods, who is 13-14-2 in the Ryder Cup. “I believe I was out there, what, in five sessions each time, and I didn’t go 5-0 on our side. So I certainly am a part of that, and that’s part of being a team. I needed to go get my points for my team, and I didn’t do that.
“Hopefully I can do that this week, and hopefully the other guys can do the same and we can get this thing rolling.”
U.S. captain Davis Love III and Woods were partners three times in the Ryder Cup, notching a 2-1 record. Love said Woods shouldn’t shoulder the blame for the USA’s misfortunes.
“You look at a lot of our great players, and they don’t have great Ryder Cup records. I think if you’re .500 in the Ryder Cup, you’re pretty dang good. If you’re above .500 like Seve (Ballesteros) and José (Maria Olazabal), you’ve had an incredible run in the Ryder Cups,” Love said. “It’s tough to win, first of all. I kind of throw the Jim Furyk or the Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods record of wins and losses out. There’s a reason why these guys keep making teams, and I don’t look a whole lot at the record.
“I needed to go get my points for my team, and I didn’t do that.”
Tiger Woods
“Tiger has played a lot of times, and he’s ended up with a lot of partners. And he can play great, and the partner might not. I know I messed Tiger up a couple times, so I’m part of his problem.”
Woods, who has played in every match in the six Ryder Cups in which he has participated and was on the winning squad in 1999, has won a lot in the Chicago area and has good vibes heading into the 39th Ryder Cup, which begins Friday in this suburb of the Windy City.
“We are going to have a great atmosphere here, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Woods said. “It will certainly be partisan, there’s no doubt about it. It will be loud. It will be raucous. It will obviously be in our favor, just like it is for Europe when we go over to Europe. But, hey, it’s part of the deal.”