There was a time we watched Tiger Woods dominate golf like few athletes have done in any sport. Now we watch to see how badly he'll play and how far his fall from the top will be.
For that reason, Woods, despite precariously holding on as the No. 1-ranked player in the world (only because Phil Mickelson couldn't seize an opportunity when it's staring him in the face) should not be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
We all know he will be. U.S. captain Corey Pavin already has made the decision that Woods will be one of his four "wild-card selections," although he won't make it official until Sept. 7.
Pavin says Woods is "high" on his list of candidates as a pick, but you don't have to read between the lines on this one to know it's a done deal: Woods will be at Celtic Manor in Wales to face Colin Montgomerie's European squad Oct. 1-3.
He shouldn't be. While he may have posted top-5 performances in the first two majors of this season (tied fourth at the Masters and U.S. Open), he doesn't deserve consideration for the Ryder Cup.
Woods's game has slipped so much in his year of personal strife in the wake of the sex scandal that has left his marriage and family life in ruins that the only cause Pavin would have for wanting him is pure desperation.
You don't have to be a psychologist or psychiatrist to see how much all that's happened off the golf course has affected Woods's play on it. It's evident in every errant drive, each missed approach shot and bad putt. It's in his body language and every pained expression etched on his face.
There's no focus, concentration or mental toughness -and no fight, as we witnessed at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this month where he turned in his worst performance since joining the PGA Tour. All those qualities once, not long ago, defined him.
And it's not likely to get better soon for a player who has failed to qualify for the U.S. team for the first time in his career.
Woods played in five consecutive biennial Ryder Cups before missing 2008 at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky., where the Americans won 161/2 to 111/2 while he was recovering
-in the news
from knee surgery after winning his last major that year at the U.S. Open.
He's played 25 Ryder Cup matches in his career and taken 11 points. While he's won 10 matches, his 13 defeats are the second most by an American behind Raymond Floyd's 16 (in 31 matches).
Based on those numbers alone, even if Woods was of healthy mind and swing, he couldn't be counted on to contribute much, so why make him a pick?
The eight players who've qualified on points for the U.S. are Mickelson, Hunter Mahan, Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jeff Overton and Matt Kuchar. Of them, Overton and Kuchar haven't won on the PGA Tour this season, and Watson and Johnson made the team on the strength of their play at last week's PGA Championship. Watson, Johnson, Overton and Kuchar also are Ryder Cup rookies.
After them, those ranked based on points ninth through 15th, respectively, are Anthony Kim, Lucas Glover, Zach Johnson, Woods, Bo Van Pelt, Stewart Cink and Ben Crane.
We'd take any four from that group, excluding Woods, simply because there are already enough distractions around the Ryder Cup. Why weigh down a team, further hampering its chances of victory, with excess baggage of which Woods has a boat load these days?
Pavin should go with some feisty youth in Kim and Glover and the veteran aspect of a Cink and Z.J.
It's not going to happen, but Woods would do best to shut it down for the season and take the necessary time to get his proverbial you-know-what together.
And besides, Ryder Cup tradition has players accompanied by wives or girlfriends for on-course support and social functions. Would Woods bring a date? If so, who?
