Woods will decide Ryder Cup result

TWO teams, 24 players, yet the outcome of the 34th Ryder Cup will depend on just one man, Tiger Woods. Why? Because Tiger is

If I was Curtis Strange, the United States captain, I'd be looking to get the maximum of five points out of Tiger. Should Tiger get those five points then the rest of his team need just nine between them to retain the Ryder Cup. What makes Tiger so special is not just his playing ability but his sheer presence which will give the rest of his team a lift.

The three occasions I captained Europe I always felt I had the best players on my side Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie, Seve Ballesteros and it definitely lifts a team if they know they have the best playing alongside them.

The task facing our captain Sam Torrance is to stop Tiger at all costs. If Sam can hit Tiger early on it will hurt the American points scoring and it will have a psychological effect on their team. The problem facing Sam is that the draws for the matches are blind, so he has to sit down and try to figure where Tiger is going to fall in Curtis's line-up.

This is a game of cat- and-mouse. Before each round of matches the captains submit a sealed list of the order in which they want their pairings or in the case of Sunday, their singles to play. The two lists are then put together. Trying to out-think the rival team in this way is all part of the game. Normally you wouldn't worry too much about the draws, but it is important Tiger plays our best players. If that happens, if the blind draw falls our way, I honestly believe we could run out easy winners.

I would want Sergio Garcia to be playing Tiger in nearly every match. Sergio is our one player you feel would stand up to Tiger. I feel Sam will have to find a new partner for Sergio because Jesper Parnevik has run straight out of form. At Brookline in 1999 the partnership of Sergio and Jesper was a good one. But Jesper is not putting well and Sam will have to look carefully at who he pairs him with, if he plays Jesper at all, before the singles.

You want to put Sergio with someone high in confidence and playing well because that will be an important partnership. It must stand up to Woods and David Duval, or maybe Woods and David Toms.

Curtis is going to have to play it smart, too. Some of our players might be intimidated by facing Tiger, but don't forget some of their players might be intimidated by playing with him.

I bet there are only three or four in the US team who Curtis feels he can put with Tiger. Duval's the obvious one as they won the World Cup together. But Duval's form is so poor he might be a liability. The alternatives are Davis Love, Toms Mark Calcavecchia.

Other European pairings? Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood played in all the foursomes and fourballs at Brookline, and beat Woods and Duval. But this pairing might not be assured this year because Lee has been struggling. Darren is still a great player and Sam will have to think about putting him with Padraig Harrington or Colin Montgomerie.

I know there has been talk that it was wrong to retain the same teams after last year's postponement because so many players have lost form. But I believe the golfing public and all sports-minded people accept the circumstances.

Fortunately, the Ryder Cup is match play which is so unique. You can have people come to the Ryder Cup in form, but they might not give a good performance. And you can have people struggling for form, but they raise their game. That is part of what makes the Ryder Cup so special. I sincerely hope Sam's day will come on Sunday. I believe he has already made a good captain by the manner in which he has conducted himself since the tragedies of last September. As for Curtis, he's a real tough cookie and it will really hurt him if he loses. I was in many teams that lost and you really feel it at the closing ceremony when the opposition receives that trophy.

As a captain I went through it twice, at Kiawah Island and at The Belfry. When I finally won at Oak Hill in 1995 I actually felt bad for my counterpart Lanny Wadkins. It was strange. I should have felt elated but the overriding emotion was an appreciation for what Lanny was going through.

Of course I was pleased for our team, because the win was a team effort. A lot of those players had lost in 91 and 93 just as a lot of the European players this week were on the losing side at Brookline and what they did to turn it around in 95, finishing the Americans off towards the last few holes, was brilliant.

I hope Sam gets that response at The Belfry.

My heart hopes that Europe win, but a lot depends on how Tiger plays. I'm just worried that he can score five points. If he gets them, Europe will struggle.