Jim Furyk confirmed his captain's picks for the American Ryder Cup team on Tuesday and it came as no surprise to see that the in-form Bryson DeChambeau was included, along with Ryder Cup veteran Phil Mickelson and the rejuvenated Tiger Woods.
It is the return of Woods to the Ryder Cup fold for the first time since 2012 that will grab the headlines and it will be interesting to see if he can improve on a quite woeful record in this team event when USA take on Europe at Le Golf National later this month.
Woods played in seven Ryder Cups between 1997 and 2012, and USA only tasted victory once, in 1999, with him in the team. Ironically, they also won during that time period when Woods wasn't in the team in 2008. Which raises the question, have USA been poor because of Woods or has Woods been unfortunate to be part of underperforming teams?
His own Ryder Cup record is very poor for a player who has won fourteen major tournaments during his career and his win-loss-halved record at the Ryder Cup currently stands at 13-17-3. Only two American golfers have played as many Ryder Cups as Woods and have a worse win percentage than the 42-year-old's 43.94% (Jim Furyk and Raymond Floyd).
The last time we saw Woods playing a Ryder Cup, he took half-a-point from four matches during the 'Miracle of Medinah' in 2012 and there is a long held belief that the single-minded focus that has made him such a great player simply doesn't translate to the team environment.
Indeed, his career singles match-play record is sensational as it currently stands at 50-16-2 in all events and he hasn't lost a singles Ryder Cup match since his debut in 1997. It will be fair to assume that he will get the job done on the Sunday, although it is what has gone before which will define his Ryder Cup this year.
His career team record is a woeful 29-32-2 in all events (i.e. including Presidents Cup), although he will have few better opportunities to improve that in Paris from 28-30 September as he is part of, what looks on paper at least, a quite brilliant USA Team.
The Americans head to France as defending champions following their dominant 17-11 win at Hazeltine two years ago and Woods was actually a vice-captain during that tournament. The experience will surely have helped Woods to move away from the singular, insular focus that has arguably dominated his ridiculously successful career, and the injury plagued couple of years he endured before this season will no doubt have provided the legend with some perspective as he moves towards the latter stages of his career.
Woods took to the role of vice-captain well enough at Hazeltine that Furyk initially selected Woods to be part of his backroom team at Le Golf National this month but the resurgence of Woods during this 2018 campaign ensures he will play in his eighth Ryder Cup. Five top-tens this year, including a runner-up finish at the US PGA Championship, are an impressive return for a player who looked finished not so long ago and the challenge for him now will be to taste rare success as part of a formidable American team in France.
