End the suspense.
Tiger Woods is on the Ryder Cup team.
It’s handing the ball to Cy Young; it’s starting Joe Montana. It’s Wayne Gretzky creating from behind the net; it’s Michael Jordan with the ball in his hands and the clock winding down.
It’s a no-brainer and Corey Pavin has given it little to no thought.
Think he didn’t make that comment to Jim Gray? Think again.
The problem was, Gray quoted him, and Pavin, playing the good captain to his PGA superiors, didn’t want to diss the rest of the troops — some of whom think they’ve got a shot at the team and may have something to play for.
Woods has had a forgettable season, a forgettable year.
Tiger Woods hits shot at 2010 U.S. Open. Photo copyright USGA/Mike Ehrmann
The world’s best player became the world’s go-to punch line. His extra-curricular affairs read like the fiction that in another era was delivered in a plain brown wrapper.
His wife was humiliated. And at some point, Woods will have to take the painful steps of explaining to his kids just what Dad was up to.
But it had nothing to do with golf. It’s just that the spiraling weight of emotional distress and a swing in need of a fix drove his game into the toilet.
Keep in mind, of course, scores of players would welcome the state of his game and its results. The 2010 season has included a pair of T-4 finishes in major tournaments.
But Tiger Woods is no ordinary player.
And Pavin knows it.
The team will be announced Tuesday and the real work is filling the four additional captain’s slots to accompany the eight automatic qualifiers, who will meet Colin Montgomerie’s European squad Oct. 1-3 in Wales.
And Woods will be on it for the sixth time in his career and first since 2006 — he didn’t play when the Americans reclaimed the cup in 2008 at Valhalla as he recovered from knee surgery.
Sure, his game has been erratic all year, but it has shown signs of life.
Woods nearly frightened all observers by playing himself into contention at the Masters in April following a five-month layoff.
Could it really be that easy? It wasn’t and he faded on Sunday.
Then at Pebble Beach, Woods shot a third-round 66 that included a 31 on the back and few doubted it would be his tournament to win and not Graeme McDowell’s.
As they say, that’s why they play the game.
And just a week ago in New Jersey at the Barclay’s, Woods opened with a season-best 65 but couldn’t sustain it as he carded over-par rounds into the weekend before closing with 67 on Sunday.
That showing was enough to advance him to the second stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs and put to rest any arguments Pavin may have had to make by including the world’s No. 1 player on his Ryder Cup team.
Yes, Woods is still atop the Official World Golf Ranking, which demonstrates how dominant he’s been.
Is he the “best” player right now? No, one could make arguments for at least a half-dozen candidates.
And that is just this side of the pond.
But would you put him on your team?
You bet you would.
There are few times you get such an opportunity and when you do you don’t pass . General managers call it not filling a need, but taking the best player available.
Guess who?
In Woods you have a guy, who still has well within his window the chance of becoming the game’s greatest player by eclipsing all the key records on the books.
His overall record in the Ryder Cup is 10-13-2, but Woods is 3-1-1 in singles.
Concerns have been levied that Woods will be a distraction, the British press will eat him alive and hecklers will be relentless.
All possible, but relentless has been the scrutiny he’s been under since Thanksgiving.
The tabloids will take their swings, but Woods hitting the media with an icy-stared virtual stiff arm and monosyllabic response is really something to behold.
He’ll be fine.
And the distractions?
Any flap surrounding Woods could actually provide cover for a team that will field at least four Ryder Cup rookies and possibly more depending on how Pavin fills out the remaining slots on his card.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy can talk tough, but it’s doubtful he wants to be paired against Woods with the Cup on the line come Sunday’s Oct. 3 final.
Woods has made his mistakes and paid for them dearly.
His tee shots at times have been straight out of the D flight at the member-guest.
But if you have an opening and you can fill it with the name Tiger Woods to help you win a golf tournament, you do it.
You know you want him.
It’s a no-brainer.
Mike Scarr is the editor of Golflink.com. He can be reached at golflinkeditor@demandmedia.com.
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Yes, he’s number one but he has the equivalent of a broken hand. You can’t play when your life is a mess and his play is a mess. He has played 11 events. Arjun Atwal has played 11 events. Arjun Atwal leads Tiger in money by $200,000.
He’s not a good cup player anyway. Tiger has not played enough rounds to be listed in the PGA Tour stats. He should have declined. He will be a disappointment. He put Pavin in a bad position.
Re: “But would you put him on your team? You bet you would.”
No I wouldn’t. I would take Justin Leonard or Fred Couples over this train wreck.