One way or the other, Woods set for Ryder Cup
Tiger Woods is still a possibility to represent the USA at Celtic Manor this October, after the player indicated he would accept a captain's wild card pick for the Ryder Cup, should he fail to qualify automatically; a scenario that looks likely unless Woods can perform impressively at the PGA Championship this week.
Woods' answer was brief but unequivocal, the golfer responding with a straightforward "Yes," when asked at a press conference yesterday whether he'd accept an invite from US team captain Corey Pavin.
The 34-year-old admitted he had not spoken to Pavin, but left the room under no illusions that he would like to play in the tournament in Wales in two months, commenting on his captain: "Haven’t seen him and hopefully I won’t be a pick. I would like to be able to play myself on to that team."
That leaves the ball in Pavin's court. “Of course I’m going to [pick him]. He’s the best player in the world,” Pavin reportedly told US golf television contributor Jim Gray in the Whistling Straits clubhouse yesterday. That report has since been discredited, Pavin using his Twitter account to deny the comment, claiming "I never said such a thing and will not say a thing until 09/07."
Last week Woods had cast doubt on his appearance at the tournament, stating when asked if he even wanted to play the Ryder Cup: "Not playing like this, definitely not". The comments came after Woods had played his career worst tournament at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, finishing 78th in a field of 80 players.
Whether the player is simply talking up his game in an effort to make himself believe he can rediscover his previous excellence, or the 14-time major winner really does feel more optimistic about this week's PGA Championship, Woods seemed altogether perkier yesterday.
When asked about possible journalistic overreaction to his most recent performance, Woods replied, to laughter: "Well, the good thing is even though I'm one of the worst players on the planet, I might be able to beat you. So I do feel good about that. Yes. Definitely."
Elsewhere the newly clean-shaven Woods (he'd sported a goatee beard at last week's Bridgestone Invitational) trod familiar ground as he claimed to see improvement, saying of his driving: "It's starting to get a little bit tighter again [since last week]and I feel like I can use my legs and my rotation the way that I know I can. And so that's starting to come around."
Woods also admitted it was "a possibility" that he could work with Sean Foley as his new swing coach. The Canadian Foley currently works with Hunter Mahan and Sean O'Hair.
But in a far cry from the player's standard 'I'm here to win' attitude, Woods claimed that his slump at Firestone last week was a surprise only insomuch as he had expected it to come earlier. "To be honest with you, I thought I would have been here a little bit sooner, with all that's going on," he told reporters. "But somehow I've been able to play a little bit better than I thought for a stretch, and then it finally caught up with me last week."
"For some reason I've been able to piece together rounds and keep it in there and there were two tournaments where I really hit it well, but other than that, I really haven't done that well.
"And even at the US Open I played nine good holes and you need to play a little bit more consistent than that, and this is a new week. And that's one of the great things about this sport is that no matter how poorly or how well you, we all play the week before, it all begins anew."
If Woods can get something new going on Thursday, all those hastily penned career obituaries might look a tad premature. But if he racks up another stinker, all the good humoured press conferences and Ryder Cup appearances in the world aren't going to halt the belief that Woods is on the slide, and he's not coming back any time soon.
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