Pavin: Woods is not untouchable

United States Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin insists he is not afraid to drop Tiger Woods.

Pavin chose the world number one as one of his wild picks last week but refuses to guarantee that Woods will play in all his five possible matches against Europe at Celtic Manor when the tournament starts on October 1.

Pavin said: “Tiger told me he will do whatever is necessary to help the team win and that is going to be my call and I will probably be making that decision a little bit on the fly but I’m not afraid to not play him every match, that’s for sure.

“The objective is to win the match and that’s what I’m going to be trying to do, whatever that takes.”

Woods has struggled at times with the foursomes and fourballs format on the first two days of the Ryder Cup, most famously losing both matches on the first day when paired with Phil Mickelson as the so-called ’Dream Team’ in 2004.

Pavin, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme, said: “I am going to treat every player the same. The objective is to try to win the Ryder Cup and if in my judgement I think Tiger is to play five matches, or should play four or three then that is what I will do – that’s my call as captain and I’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

“For me it’s how he’s playing golf – that’s my concern as far as the Ryder Cup goes.”