"He's a close friend of mine but the overall thing and the bigger picture is for him to get healthy. We can't have him come here and slide down one of these hills and hurt himself again," says Steve Stricker of Tiger Woods; watch the Ryder Cup live on Sky Sports Ryder Cup from 1pm Friday
Friday 24 September 2021 06:29, UK
Tiger Woods has sent a message of support to the United States team ahead of their Ryder Cup showdown with Europe at Whistling Straits.
Woods, who made the last of his eight Ryder Cup appearances in Paris in 2018, is continuing his recovery from his car crash in February and will not be part of USA captain Steve Stricker's backroom team as they bid to win back the trophy in Wisconsin.
However, Woods has sent a text message to the United States team which Stricker was set to read out on Thursday evening as he rallies his team ahead of Friday's opening foursomes.
"He (Tiger) wrote a nice text for the guys and I'll read that to them tonight, along with the other notes that I've got," Stricker told the Golf Channel.
"He's part of this Ryder Cup family for sure and we're sad that he's not here.
"He's a close friend of mine but the overall thing and the bigger picture is for him to get healthy. We can't have him come here and slide down one of these hills and hurt himself again.
"That's our focus and I know that's his focus too. He didn't want to distract from the team and he has been great along this whole process."
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