Tiger Woods did not qualify for the Ryder Cup and he has one chance left to be there, that is with Corey Pavin's wild card pick. Although Woods has not earned it this year, Corey Pavin does not seem to want to pass up the failing World's # 1 golfer, or at least this is what the media has been led to believe. Earlier this year, Pavin hinted that Tiger may not be on the team, Jack Nicklaus said "you would have to be brain dead to omit Woods", according to the Telegraph UK.
It will be one year next week since Tiger has won a tournament. Originally when Woods was asked about the Ryder Cup last month, he said that if he wins tournaments, he was hopeful the captain would pick him, but he hasn't won a tournament yet. So why would the captain pick him?
Woods hasn't even had a top three finish all year, and it is going on two months that he hasn't made a top 10 finish. It sounds as if Pavin still wants him on the team, says Mark Reason from the Telegraph. Reason adds in a rebuttal to Jack Nicklaus' words - "you have to be more brain dead to pick him". I agree, totally.
An Avid golfer, Donald Shean of Oxford, Connecticut says that "if Pavin picks Woods, it will be a sad day for golf. The Ryder Cup wild card pick should be about the hard work and accomplishments from the games played all year. If Woods is picked, this means a golfer who had a successful year will not reap his reward of being on the team for the Ryder Cup. Instead Woods will take that golfers place. It is just wrong, the team is full of top players and Woods has not accomplished "top player" status this year".
The team for the Ryder Cup is not about hurt feelings or crushed egos, it is about achievement and Tiger Woods did not achieve, end of story. Corey Pavin better think hard about how he became team captain, he earned it. If he picks Woods for the team, this takes away from his achievements as well as the rest of the team that worked hard to get there, very wrong move indeed to reward Woods with a wild card pick.
The Announcement of Pavin's wild card will be on Tuesday September 7th 2010. Please don't do it Corey Pavin, keep the integrity of Ryder Cup and the integrity of golf. Give the wild card spot to who ever you believe earned it. The world knows it was not Tiger Woods.
References: Telegraph UK
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