Tiger unfazed by Ryder record

THOSE who suspect Tiger Woods may not be the consummate team player will be interested by his comments yesterday as he continued his preparation for the $5.5m American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet.

He went so far as to claim his Ryder Cup record (a distinctly moderate won 3, halved 1, lost 6) didn't worry him and pointed out: "Sometimes I've played well and been beaten. Other times I've played poorly and still been beaten. As you know, anything can happen in matchplay, especially over 18 holes, and the Ryder Cup is a big reflection of that.

You also suspect it's not the format that makes Woods less than enthusiastic about the Ryder Cup. He clearly detests the social side of the event and would much prefer to steer clear of it all. Furthermore, he ceases to be his own man once he boards the plane on Sunday night for The Belfry and will have to do exactly what his captain Curtis Strange and protocol demand.

"I think I should be able to prepare for the Ryder Cup in my own way," he said. "It's supposed to be a pretty big event, yet you're spending most of the nights going to functions until 11pm or midnight.

My workout routine is something I take great pride in but we don't have the time and luxury to do that."

He then proceeded to try and play down the significance of the Ryder Cup, claiming: "There is less excitement this time, from the players, the fans, the media. Every year around PGA time it gets really interesting, who has qualified, who is going to get picked and it hasn't been that way this time and rightly so.

We're trying to win this tournament, it's a big event and only when it's over on Sunday will the teams start getting fired up for next week."

As the years go by, Tiger Woods seems to spend as much time in Ireland as in any other country except, of course, the United States. He's been coming here every July since 1998 and yesterday made no secret of his intention to return time and time again.

"It all started with Dermot Desmond and JP McManus inviting Mark O'Meara and I over in 98 and I had such a great time I've been coming since," he explained.

"I love the fishing here. I love hanging out at the pubs. The Irish people have been wonderful and it's a place I thoroughly enjoy. I have never played competitively here and I've been drawn with Padraig Harrington and that's going to be exciting. A lot of fans will come out and follow our match. He's been playing great all year.

"Playing the Irish courses has been very important in preparing for the British Open, not only getting adjusted to the time difference but also getting used to playing links golf. We've played Portmarnock just about every year, Royal Co Down, again just about every year, Ballybunion, Waterville, just about everywhere.

Because the greens are in immaculate condition and the forecast is for little or no wind, the confident expectation is for a lot of low scoring this week. Woods certainly agrees and while he is full of admiration for the conditioning of the course, he also said: "I don't think it's as difficult as a lot of the courses Jack Nicklaus designs."