Woods relying on wildcard to take part in sixth Ryder Cup
Published:Tiger Woods will need a wildcard pick if he is to feature in the USA team that will defend the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in October.
The world number one could only finish in a share of 28th spot at the US PGA Championship, which was not enough to move him into one of the eight automatic places on Corey Pavin’s team.
Therefore, Woods must rely on being selected as one of four wildcards by Pavin if he is to compete in his sixth Ryder Cup, with the captain needing to make his decision in the next three weeks.
He said: “Hopefully Corey will pick me on the team. 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.”
However, based on the results of two years ago at the Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky, Pavin may be best to leave Woods out.
Former USA captain Paul Azinger was unable to select Woods in 2008 as he recovered from undergoing knee reconstruction surgery, but this had little bearing on the final result.
The USA team, which is 15/8 to triumph in Wales, recorded their largest margin of victory since 1981 and their first win since 1999 when trouncing Nick Faldo’s Europe by 16.5 points to 11.5.
Meanwhile, Woods does not have the greatest track record in the Ryder Cups he has participated in, although he did collect three points from five in 2006 in a losing effort.
One thing that could be in Woods’ favour is the partnership he built up with Steve Stricker at the Presidents Cup last year as the USA defeated their international opposition 19.5 to 14.5.
Woods and Stricker were paired together for all of the foursome and fourball team showdowns and collected maximum points, while Woods also claimed a 6&5 victory over YE Yang in the singles.
Europe are 8/15 to win back the Ryder Cup, while a first tie since 1989 is available at 10/1.
