Pavin gambles on Ryder renaissance for Tiger
In the end, Tiger Woods' inclusion barely merited a raised eyebrow.
Before Corey Pavin revealed his wildcard picks for the Ryder Cup yesterday, the 34-year-old already seemed virtually a lock for a place on the team; had Pavin left the man out, he would surely have received much greater criticism.
And why not? Still the world No. 1, Woods may have endured the worst year of his professional career but even at his most erratic, Woods has managed fourth-place finishes at this year's Masters and US Open. That Woods can still perform at the big occasions would not seem to be in doubt.
Woods has also finished just outside the top 10 in his last two tournaments, putting together impressive individual rounds and at the Deutsche Championship this past weekend, even going 18 holes without making a bogey for the first time this year. If not exactly firing on all cylinders, Woods' engine would at least appear to be warming up nicely. Who wouldn't like to have golf's outstanding performer of the past 15 years on his team?
Except that Woods has hardly proved himself indispensable when it comes to this particular competition. This is the first time Woods has required a wildcard pick, with the player qualifying automatically for each of his previous five appearances. And on all but one of those five occasions, Woods has found himself on the losing team.
In truth, Woods comes uncomfortably close to albatross status (think Ancient Mariners rather than golf scores) at the Ryder, the USA's sole victory with him on the team coming a decade ago in 1999, when the competition was held in Boston.
Since then, Woods has been on the losing side in 2002, 2004 and 2006 - while America's convincing victory in 2008 was pulled off sans Woods, the player absent because he was recovering from a knee injury. Woods' personal record at the tournament stands at 10 wins and 13 losses, with the player halving his other two matches to date.
Is Woods just not a team player? In previous partnerships at the Ryder Cup, Woods' aura has perhaps intimidated his fellow players, while there have been some match-ups that the player seemed to take to with all the happy bonhomie of Godzilla eying up Tokyo. Woods' pairing with Phil Mickelson in 2004 at Oakland Hills was the most obvious disaster, the pair barely acknowledging each other as they lost both their games on the opening day.
But last year Woods thrived alongside Steve Stricker at the President's Cup, and captain Corey Pavin will surely look to repeat one of the few partnerships that have worked for Woods.
Even so, will that be enough to see Woods rediscover his winning form? Or does his surprising lack of success at the Ryder stem from some sense of apathy toward the tournament? Woods strongly denies it. "I've always loved the Ryder Cup, I don't know where this perception of indifference comes from," he said at a press conference yesterday.
Still, the golfer's words, as well as his deeds, haunt him. Woods was uncharacteristically speaking a little too freely in 2002 in saying he would rather win a million dollars than the trophy. And whatever he says now, at previous Ryder's Woods has sometimes looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than taking one for the team.
The past is a foreign country, of course. With Woods' experiencing at least a partial slump in his popularity as well as his form this year, perhaps the 14-time major winner is aware that a good performance at Celtic Manor could be an important step in his public rehabilitation.
With Europe heavily favoured to win in October, Ryder Cup success for Woods and the US could mark a turning point in Tiger's year, his annus horribilis forgotten as the man finishes 2010 on a high.
Then again, as he made the wildcard announcements at New York yesterday, Pavin insisted: "I'm not afraid to put anybody with anybody. I think there's a lot of permutations out there, nothing set in stone yet."
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods to partner one another in Wales next month? Make it happen, Mr Pavin, we're begging you.
Tags: