Sutton sets out to inspire Tiger

United States Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton is making it a priority to bring the best out of Tiger Woods next September in Detroit.

Sutton competes against the world number one in the US PGA Championship starting today at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York. But next week they will sit down and talk about Oakland Hills.

In three appearances so far Woods has won only five of his 15 games and he sparked debate prior to The Belfry last September by saying he would rather win the American Express World Championship than the Ryder Cup. He did win it and the US then lost.

But Sutton, a team-mate then and in Boston in 1999, is adamant their chat will not be about Woods’ feelings for the match.

“I don’t have any doubt about how much Tiger cares,” said Sutton yesterday. “This man cares every time he puts that peg in the ground.

“I mean, if there’s a person in the world that doubts how much Tiger Woods cares then he doesn’t understand the game very much, he doesn’t have a feel for the game.

“The man does not like to lose. So I don’t have any doubt in the world about how Tiger Woods feels.”

What he has noticed, however, is that Woods has simply tried to let his clubs do the talking and it might be time for more than that.

“Tiger has not been very vocal – he’s just tried to play his game.

“I will try to impress upon him to share things and he’s the first guy that I want to talk to. I don’t think there’s a player that will make the team alongside him that doesn’t have the utmost respect for his abilities.”

Sutton believes the over-reaction of American players four years ago when Justin Leonard holed a putt against Jose Maria Olazabal meant there was an almost inevitable consequence last autumn.

“I think everybody needs to keep that intact and make sure we don’t get out of hand, but I don’t want to put everybody in a straightjacket either by the same token,” he said.

“I was part of the team at The Belfry and I wanted to make sure that I made every step just right. And sometimes there wasn’t room for me to be myself in that.

“The American players felt a little bit restrained, but I think there is a way to have free will and still do it the right way.

“That will be my challenge, to allow a person to be himself. I think everybody is under the impression that Tiger Woods pumping his fist over here is something different than pumping his fist over in Europe.

“Tiger Woods is used to doing it and if Tiger Woods does it is that going to stir the crowd? I’m hoping that everybody understands that that’s Tiger Woods. He’s not trying to stir the crowd up.

“I’m aware of the responsibilities we all have to bear at all times, but I also want to add that it is a spirited competition.

“I was there at the back of the 17th green (in 1999) and we have hashed this out a thousand different times. Somebody might have defined it as over the top. I would have defined it as an uncontrollable urge to express enthusiasm.

“It was a loss of the moment and where we were, but it could be a good thing in the future because we could have all learnt a lesson from it.”