Tiger Woods seeking redemption at Ryder Cup?
Two weeks ago, when Tiger Woods was still trying to get his head around a career-worst finish at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational - a tournament he had won seven times in the previous 10 years - he was asked whether he even wanted to play in this year's Ryder Cup.
"Not playing like this, definitely not, not playing like this," he replied. "I wouldn't help the team if I'm playing like this. No-one would help the team if they're shooting 18 over par."
While Woods' concern for the team was admirable, there was some speculation that the 34-year-old was doing both himself and captain Corey Pavin a favour by seeming to indicate he didn't necessarily expect to be included in Pavin's selection of wildcards.
Woods did muddy the water somewhat with his follow-up comment, "I think I can turn it around, but we've got a lot of time between now and then, which is good." In any case, if the world No. 1's presence or otherwise has been the topic of endless speculation in recent days. Just ask Pavin, or for that matter journalist Jim Gray, who were involved in a squabble over Woods' Ryder inclusion at a press conference last week (see http://www.senore.com/Uneasy-Ryde-Pavin-and-Monty-grilled-by-press-a21514 for the details).
Whatever, Woods has since made his position crystal clear. Having failed to place well enough at the PGA Championship at the weekend to secure automatic qualification, after the tournament the golfer told reporters: "Corey texts me a lot so, I'm sure he'll be texting me or calling me and I'm sure we'll be talking.
"I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, Corey will pick me on the team. I think I've got a chance of maybe helping out in singles."
And despite Pavin refusing to say for definite that he intends to take Woods, his recent talk certainly seem to indicate the player will make the journey to Celtic Manor in October. After the PGA Championship, Pavin observed: "He finished 12th in the standings and has been in the top eight almost all year, so even if he was just a name that wasn't Tiger Woods, you'd be considering him.
"He's still playing some pretty good golf, in my mind. Would I like to see him playing better? Absolutely. But obviously he wants to play, he wants to be a part of the team and he's hoping I'll pick him."
With comments like those, the real shock will be if Pavin opts to ditch the outstanding player of the last decade, but there are reasons to leave him out beyond his current form. In the past there's been speculation that Woods does not wholly enjoy playing the biennial tournament, and his record at the Ryder Cup is hardly impeccable.
The USA has won only once with Woods on the team, despite the 14-time major winner turning out for his country five times; at the most recent 2008 competition, where the USA won by five points , Woods himself was absent, recovering from a knee injury.
But in 2010, in the year when Woods has made the improbable journey from untouchable to underdog, might the embattled player have hit upon the perfect a way to win round the fans once more with a suitably selfless performance in Wales?
Unknowingly or otherwise, of course; perhaps I'm just too cynical, but Woods' management team are surely canny enough to see the Ryder Cup as a gilt-edged opportunity to put a positive spin on an otherwise thoroughly rotten year, and go some small way to redeeming Woods with an American public who can forgive a winner anything.
Maybe that's an unnecessarily distrustful conclusion. Whatever Woods' motivation, the man seems likely to make Pavin's team; if he can justify his inclusion, maybe Woods can begin to erase the miseries of the last nine months.
Saying that, he'll also need to raise his game substantially. Because Woods the gallant loser just isn't that much of a draw.
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