Woods could yet line up for the United Sates against Europe
Tiger Woods said he would accept being
picked for the Ryder Cup by United States captain Corey Pavin but has
targeted qualifying outright.
Woods, 34, needs to be in the top eight US golfers to earn an automatic place in the team but is currently 10th. On Sunday he finished 18 over par at the Bridgestone Invitational and cast doubts about playing at Celtic Manor. But on Tuesday he said: "Hopefully I won't be a pick. I would like to be able to play myself onto that team." The world number one has struggled with his game since returning from a break to deal with allegations about his private life, culminating in the worst score of his professional career in Ohio last weekend.
However, Woods is aiming to climb back into an automatic qualifying place after this week's USPGA Championship at Whistling Straits next to Lake Michigan. And he also admitted he was surprised that he had managed to keep his game together for so long since accusations about extra-marital affairs. "To be honest, I thought I would have been here [playing poorly] a little bit sooner with all that is going on," Woods said. "Somehow I've been able to play a little bit better than I thought for a stretch and then it finally caught up with me last week." The 14-time major winner refused to confirm that Justin Rose's coach Sean Foley is helping him turn his game around. Woods said: "Certainly it's a possibility, no doubt. But there's also a lot of other coaches out there that's a possibility as well. "I wanted to have him take a look at it today on video so I can take a look at it and that's what we did. "I'm heading in the right direction, so I'm pretty excited about that." | ||
