Dwyer/AP
Tiger Woods shot a 2-under 69 Monday to finish tied for 11th at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Despite Pavin's insistence that Woods was (and is) no lock, Tiger would have had to completely fall apart to fall behind four people in Pavin's mind and that didn't happen.
He may not have won, but Woods' ball-striking has looked much sharper since hooking up with swing guru Sean Foley.
He shot a 2-under 69 Monday to finish tied for 11th place at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass. The tournament marked the first time all year that Woods had three rounds in the 60s, and he held onto his world No. 1 ranking as Phil Mickelson faltered once again with a final-round 76.
A fourth-place finish for Mickelson, who is on the Ryder team, would have made him No. 1.
Woods said after his round yesterday that he planned to call Pavin.
"I missed the last one because I was hurt, and it would be nice to be on the team," he said. "I enjoy playing in the Ryder Cup and going out there against those guys with my teammates and see if we can get it done."
That would leave three more spots.
Mop-haired Californian Charley Hoffman put himself into consideration with yesterday's 62 for a five-shot win over Geoff Ogilvy, Jason Day and Luke Donald at the Deutsche Bank.
Hoffman may be the hottest player on the PGA Tour with four Top 10s in seven starts, but didn't qualify for any of this year's majors.
Other possibilities are Zach Johnson, Rickie Fowler, J.B. Holmes, Stewart Cink, Ricky Barnes, Anthony Kim, Ben Crane and Lucas Glover