Tiger Woods' Ryder Cup record stinks, but Europe would be mad to write him off

The Ryder Cup never really runs short on stardust — and in that sense the 2018 edition is business as usual.

Today, had you been on the outskirts of Paris, a quick hop away from the palace of Versailles, you could have seen the actors Samuel L Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jamie Dornan red-carpeting down the fairways, bringing a dash of Hollywood to Le Golf National in the annual celebrity match. Not far away from them, true sporting aristocracy, also with clubs in hand: Michael Phelps, John McEnroe and Luis Figo.

This A-list company is all part of the pomp and magnificence that has become affixed to one of the most neatly conceived super-contests in any sport. It started, in this year’s case, nearly 11 months ago, with the inaugural captains’ tee shots from the Eiffel Tower, taken to mark the arrival of the competition in France for the first time.

But nothing can match the combination of golfing excellence and A-list cache that comes with the arrival of Tiger Woods in the American ranks. Not as a vice-captain with a crumbling spine, wincing every time his golf buggy hits an uneven patch around the course, but as a fully functioning, locked-and-loaded Tiger.

He may not have won a Major in 10 years, since his 2008 US Open title at Torrey Pines. but he is currently playing his best golf since at least 2013. A two-stroke win at the season-ending Tour Championship at the weekend in Atlanta — his 80th tour win — could not have come at a more perfect moment, either for his golf or for his legend.

Never mind his back: Tiger’s back.

Of course, Europeans, from captain Thomas Bjorn downwards, have spent the last few days scotching the idea that they are worried about having the greatest golfer of his generation hitting form the world hasn’t seen in a decade.

Bjorn, himself, has tried to tame Tiger with kindness, speaking warmly of his success, as though trying to patronise him into submission. “Tiger Woods, for the game of golf and him winning golf tournaments, is something that’s brilliant and I think we all benefit from it,’ said the Dane.

These are probably not the same words that he will be using if Tiger takes to L’Albatros course on which the Ryder Cup will be contested, stays out of the numerous water traps and comes up with the goods for the USA. Although Bjorn is magnanimous, he also knows that it is not all who benefit from a resurgent Woods. Not this weekend, anyhow. The Ryder Cup is zero-sum golf. Tiger’s gain is Europe’s loss.

Of course, it is worth pointing out that while Tiger at his best is the pre-eminent golfer of his times, his record in Ryder Cups kind of stinks. In 33 matches, stretching back to his debut in that golden year of 1997, he has a deficit of 13 points won to 17 lost, with three halved.

Set that against, say, Ian Poulter’s tally. Poulter would no doubt admit that in terms of raw ability and overall career achievement, he’d hardly qualify to carry Tiger’s clubs.

Yet, the Englishman is at the 2018 competition for a sixth time, travelling (like Tiger) as a captain’s pick, because when it comes to team matchplay, there are few better in Ryder Cup history.

Poulter’s record since 2004 says 12 points won, four lost and two halved. So, there are Tigers and then there are horses for courses. That’s what makes the contest so intriguing.

How exactly Woods will fit into his eighth Ryder Cup we will only know when the action begins on Friday morning. The talk from the American camp is that he has not just rebuilt his spine and his swing, but his entire outlook and team ethos. If so, that is a pretty scary prospect.

For now, though, what Tiger (left, practising in Paris today) brings is what he has always brought: celebrity, genius, complexity, confusion, greatness, fragility and astonishing athleticism and competitive spirit. His comeback is already improbable. It would be bordering on the unbelievable if he were to finish this season as a Ryder Cup winning player.

But, hey, if anyone can do it, Tiger Woods can.