Tiger Woods again took the stand in his defense Tuesday.
It has been that kind of year for Woods. At every turn, he seems to be defending himself, and it has gone beyond golf.
Tuesday, Woods rebutted a Boston Herald gossip report that had he split with his fiance, Elin Nordegren.
“No, that’s completely false,” Woods said. “It’s amazing how the media can quote false things like that and not be held accountable.”
Woods is keeping company with Nordegren here this week. His love life may be fine, but his golf game has been suffering. Woods continues to be grilled about his performance in a season in which Vijay Singh has supplanted him as the world’s No. 1-ranked player.
Tuesday, the questioning turned to Woods’ poor performance in Ryder Cup competition. He has managed only a 5-8-2 record in his three appearances.
As usual, Woods will be the center of attention when Ryder Cup play begins Friday at Oakland Hills. U.S. captain Hal Sutton has been point-blank about the need for Woods to improve his record this week.
Woods compiled that mark when he seemed to be winning every major. It led to a suspicion that he wasn’t exactly motivated to win the Cup for the good ol’ United States.
“Tiger has won 5 out of 15 matches,” NBC golf analyst Johnny Miller said. “Tiger, if you want the U.S. side to win, you have to start getting fired up and you have to start contributing more points.”
Woods has appeared unemotional at times in these matches. His intensity level doesn’t seem the same.
Even though he isn’t “rah-rah,” Woods insists he cares. He definitely showed some emotion when talking about the charges he doesn’t.
“I go out there with the same attitude and that’s just to win, period,” Woods said. “I don’t go into any tournament thinking that it would be great to lose. That would be asinine. You guys know how competitive I am. I go out there with the intent to win points for the U.S. team.”
It hasn’t happened. Despite his stature, Woods is only 1-1-1 in singles, losing to Costantino Rocca in a key match during the Americans’ one-point defeat in 1997. The ultimate teammate is only 4-7-1 in that phase of the competition.
Why has he fallen short? Woods contends it has been a case of other players rising up to beat him.
In 2002, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn shot a combined 62 to secure a 1-up victory over Woods and Paul Azinger in a four-ball (best-ball) match.
Clarke, who has been on two winning teams against Woods, believes players go into those matches with something to prove against him.
“Whoever tees it up against Tiger possibly gets up a little more up for it,” Clarke said. “If you look at the scores against him, you’ll find they have been incredibly good. People raise their game for him.”
The other issue is whether Woods has been used correctly. He has had eight different teammates in 12 team matches.
The rotating partners haven’t allowed Woods to develop a rhythm. Sutton acknowledged that continuity has been a problem he would like to address this week.
Sutton expects big things from Woods, regardless of his partner. He calls him “the quarterback.” The captain believes Woods needs to start working on his Ryder Cup legacy.
Sutton said he told Woods, “Hey, Tiger, it’s time you felt this is important. I want you to realize that this is an area where you are going to be judged down the road, whether you like it or not. This is going to be another barometer of success for you. Let’s give it all you’ve got and lead this team.”
Woods wants to do well, but he isn’t sure the Ryder Cup will define his legacy. During his news conference, he asked reporters, “What’s [Jack Nicklaus’ record] during the Ryder Cup?”
Nobody knew it was 17-8-3.
“How many majors did he win?”
Everyone knew Nicklaus won 18, golf’s equivalent to Hank Aaron’s 755 career home runs.
The exchange seemed to be Woods’ way of telling everyone to lay off when it comes to the Ryder Cup.
“I’ve tried my best,” Woods said. “Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten more points for our team. Hopefully this year will be a different story. Hopefully I’ll be able to get more points so we can win this thing.”
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Woods in Ryder Cup
Tiger Woods is 5-8-2 in Ryder Cup matches.
1997
– Tiger Woods and Mark O’Meara defeat Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer 3 and 2 (four-balls)
– Langer and Montgomerie d. Woods and O’Meara 5 and 3 (foursomes)
– Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood d. Woods and O’Meara 2 and 1 (four-balls)
– Woods and Justin Leonard halve Jesper Parnevik and Ignacio Garrido (foursomes)
– Costantino Rocca d. Woods 4 and 2 (singles)
1999
– Parnevik and Sergio Garcia d. Woods and Tom Lehman 2 and 1 (foursomes)
– Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood d. Woods and David Duval 1-up (four-balls)
– Woods and Steve Pate d. Padraig Harrington and Miguel Jimenez 1-up (foursomes)
– Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie d. Woods and Pate 2 and 1 (four-balls)
– Woods d. Andrew Coltart 3 and 2 (singles)
2002
– Clarke and Thomas Bjorn d. Woods and Paul Azinger 1-up (foursomes)
= Garcia and Westwood d. Woods and Calcavecchia 2 and 1 (four-balls)
– Woods and Love d. Clarke and Bjorn 4 and 3 (foursomes)
– Woods and Love d. Garcia and Westwood 1-up (four-balls)
– Woods halves Parnevik (singles)Woods in Ryder Cup
