Woods' former coach says US Ryder Cup players who partnered 14-time major winner "often say how they tried too hard because they didn't want to let him down"
Wednesday 26 September 2018 10:08, UK
Butch Harmon reflects on a landmark win for Tiger Woods at the Tour Championship and gives his reasons for the 14-time major champion's disappointing Ryder Cup record.
A lot of us were not sure whether Woods would ever play golf again, let alone go on and win an event like a Tour Championship. What he did was prove a lot of us wrong.
Where he came from to where he is now is not like Ben Hogan colliding with a bus, but it is pretty close in terms of great comebacks. From not being able to pick up his clubs or even able to make a swing to coming back and playing this well is just fantastic.
It's not so much that Tiger has played poorly in Ryder Cups, the guys often say how they tried too hard because they didn't want to let him down.
For me, this is the most amazing win he has ever had because of where he came from. He literally had no idea whether he would play again and then when he came back he wasn't sure how he was going to play.
If we just go back a couple of years ago to Torrey Pines, he couldn't even chip the ball onto the green. Now all of a sudden when you watch him play he looks like the Tiger of old.
He has sorted out the driver, he has gone back to his old putter and started to make putts and this is one of the best things to happen to golf in a long time.
If you think about it, he had the chance to win two majors in a row. He could have won The Open and could have won the PGA Championship, so for him to win I don't think was that big of a surprise.
That victory was just letting the other players know that this isn't a fluke and that he is back. Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose - who were both up there at East Lake- weren't used to having their brains beaten up by him.
Everything about it was wonderful and the crowds on the 18th felt like the old Open Championship at St Andrews, when Arnold Palmer was trying to run through the people. I think all of us are so very happy for Tiger.
Ryder Cup woe
Talking to a lot of American players, they have often struggled being Tiger's partner. It's not so much that Tiger has played poorly in Ryder Cups, the guys often say how they tried too hard because they didn't want to let him down.
If you look at all the combinations they had, because they seemed to try most players on the various teams, I think Tiger played fine but he just didn't get any help.
It went wrong when Phil Mickelson played with Tiger in 2004 because in those days, they barely talked to each other. They lived separate lives in different parts of the country and didn't really play any practice rounds together.
In those days, if you put Woods and Mickelson together then you ruined two other teams. At that point in time that was a disaster not only in the morning, but they put them out again the afternoon which I really didn't understand.
If you put them together now, which I hope they don't because I think you take away two teams, I think it might work now as they get along fine. This has the potential to be the most exciting Ryder Cup ever.
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