Be truthful. Did you ever think you’d see Tiger Woods playing in the Ryder Cup this year? You did? C’mon now, stop fibbing.
It wasn’t that long ago that Woods was delivering downbeat assessments about his wretched, wincing immobility as he plumbed the depths of physical despair with that bothersome back of his. The Ryder Cup, and merely playing golf itself, were as far away as the outer rings of Saturn.
That he has earned a wild card for next week’s match in Paris, and tees-off today as one of just 30 players who have qualified for the end-of-season Tour Championship, remains a miraculous feat.
“I have missed playing in it (the Ryder Cup) and missed competing in it,” said Woods, whose last outing as a player for Team America was in 2012. “I’ve been a part of these teams now for the better part of 20 years. To have earned the confidence of my teammates and my captain to have been selected is something that gives me a lot of excitement going into the cup.
“It’s great as well to have accomplished one of the goals I set out at the beginning of the year, to be part of the Tour Championship. It’s not going to rank up there as one of my top seasons because I didn’t win eight or nine times in a season, I didn’t win two to three majors in a year.
“But to have accomplished what I’ve accomplished and to have gotten through what I’ve gotten through to get back to this point is something I’m very proud of.”
Ahead of his journey to the French capital next week, for a high-profile return to the Ryder Cup fray which will no doubt generate more pandemonium than the rush hour on the Arc de Triomphe roundabout, Woods was in reflective mood.
In 2012, Woods and his US team-mates were on the receiving end of Europe’s rousing Miracle of Medinah as the visitors stormed back on the final day. That defeat was painful for more reasons than just the result.
“I wasn’t feeling physically well that Ryder Cup and it’s where my back started bugging me,” he said. “That’s the only wave I’ve ever missed, the Saturday afternoon wave because I told Davis (Love III, the US captain) I just really couldn’t go. I said, ‘can you put me out later on Sunday because I need the time to get my back organised here.’
“It was tough watching them celebrate from the 18th fairway when I thought we should have won that one.
“It’s a tough situation. It’s tough as a team, it’s tough for our captain, it’s tough for everyone involved not to have won the cup because that’s the ultimate goal.”
Having salvaged his golfing career, though, there are plenty of goals for a rejuvenated Woods to aim for again.
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