The first thing that struck me was while I was listening to ESPN radio on Tuesday night, where the announcer wondered aloud, 'Would Tiger have been picked if he hadn't been playing well of late?' So this is the first argument of why Tiger should be on the team, because he's been playing so well of late. In the past few months Tiger has finished T46, T23, T78, T28, T12, T11. I guess he's finished in the top 100 every tournament, but I’d hardly consider those finishes to be 'playing so well of late.' I can guarantee that lesser-known players wouldn't have been selected with those stellar finishes.
The next argument I’ve heard for Tiger's selection was mentioned by Corey Pavin himself, almost as a way of legitimizing his selection. "He's the #1 player in the world," said Pavin, alluding to Woods' standing in the World Golf Ranking. True, Woods is at the top of that list, but has he really been playing as the world’s number one? Hardly. If the rankings took into account only the past year, Tiger would be ranked 50th, which wouldn’t really be worth considering for the Ryder Cup team. I don’t think we’ll hear anybody arguing that the world’s current number 50, Charley Hoffman (who also has played well of late), should be on the team.
So then why was Tiger selected for the team? It isn’t for his past performance in the Ryder Cup, as he sports a 9-13-2 record and it isn’t because he’s a ‘great locker room guy;’ from all accounts, he doesn’t have any friends on tour. Of course Tiger does have one thing going for him, and it’s the same thing that led to his selection: He’s Tiger Woods! Obviously the most well known name in golf, if not all of sports, Woods’ selection to the Ryder Cup had as much or more to do with his marketing capabilities as it does to do with his playing.
Having Tiger Woods playing in the Ryder Cup means more people will watch on TV, more media outlets will follow the event, and in the end, more money for the tournament’s organizer, the PGA. I understand the reality and it doesn’t really bother me, but boy I’d sure love to hear a captain come out and say that’s why Tiger was picked, instead of telling me he’s good for the team and has been playing ‘so well of late.’
-TheRev
twitter.com/TheRevBW
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4 comments:
It's not that I don't totally agree with you, but Tiger has shown enough improvement over the past couple weeks to warrant a pick. He stepped up for the tournaments that mattered this year with two tops fives in the Masters and US Open. He will perform and perhaps this year, with him not playing as well as he has in previous years, he will do better due to possibly less pressure. I probably wont even watch the Ryder Cup anyways...Counterpoint!
Better? Yes. Good enough? No. I don't think T12 and T11 are good enough to put the 50th ranked player of the year onto the team.
This is really simple in my eyes. No one has ever played at the level Tiger has, no one. So do you pick based on that, or how he has played recently? I would have to think that if there is no one who has ever played as good as he can play potentially, you have to pick him. Doesn't make sense to pick some other guy who is just playing well but doesn't even have the potential to play TIGER GOOD.
Besides, how many times does the average golfer follow up his worst round ever with his best. Might just be Tiger's week.
Interesting argument Nolan and I understand where you're coming from. I think the Ryder Cup is such a different beast though, as it isn't Tiger against the field, it's Tiger and whomever loses the draw of straws against a couple of Europeans.
Even at his prime, Tiger never dominated the Ryder Cup, and I don't think there's any reason to think he'll do so playing the worst golf of his career.
I guess the fun will be in seeing how it unfolds!
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