Tiger Woods' previous Ryder Cup playing partners
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Thursday 27 September 2018 10:47, UK
Tiger Woods comes into his first appearance at the Ryder Cup in six years after arguably one of his greatest triumphs in the sport, but his record in team golf does not match up to his illustrious individual career.
The 14-time major champion completed a remarkable comeback season from spinal fusion surgery with victory at the season-ending Tour Championship for his first title since 2013 and Woods will be desperate to maintain his form at Le Golf National.
Woods holds a disappointing record at the Ryder Cup since his debut in 1997 at Valderrama - 13 wins, 17 losses and three halved matches.
During that time he has played alongside 12 different partners, half of whom he has only played one match with. We take a look at the 42-year-old's previous partners at the biennial matchplay event in greater detail…
1997 - Valderrama
Mark O'Meara: Woods' debut at the Ryder Cup came as a 21-year-old and only months after his maiden major title at the Masters, which had catapulted him firmly into golf's consciousness.
A partnership with O'Meara, widely regarded as his best friend on tour, seemed inevitable and so it proved. The duo started off encouragingly as they secured a 3&2 victory over Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer in the opening fourballs.
But the quick start was short-lived as they were then comprehensively defeated by the experienced European duo in the afternoon foursomes before suffering another loss in Saturday's fourballs, leading to captain Tom Kite splitting the pair up.
Justin Leonard: Next up for Woods was a partnership with the Open champion of that year. An inspired pairing based on form surely had to succeed?
Well, no as fate would have it. The duo earned a half point against Jesper Parnevik and Ignacio Garrido in Saturday's afternoon session at Valderrama and were never paired again.
1999 - Brookline
Tom Lehman: A month after his second major success at the PGA Championship, Woods was seen as an integral part of the USA team and skipper Ben Crenshaw opted to partner him with the 1996 Open champion.
The move didn't bring any success as they lost to Sergio Garcia, who Woods had just beaten to the title at the PGA Championship, and Parnevik.
David Duval: Woods had battled the majority of the year with Duval for the world No 1 ranking and despite their lofty statuses within the game, their competition didn't garner overbearing attention.
But despite their undoubted appetite to succeed together, proven by their winning partnership at the World Cup of Golf one year later, it was another short-lived pairing as their narrow 1 down defeat against Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood proved to be their only match together.
Steve Pate: In only his second participation at the Ryder Cup, Woods was already into his fifth different partner.
Woods and Pate, who was playing in the event eight years after his debut, appeared on the face of it a peculiar combination - one of the hosts' standout players alongside one of the team's lesser-known names.
But the move brought Woods some early success as they edged Miguel Angel Jimenez and Padraig Harrington at the 18th only to suffer disappointment in defeat against Scottish duo Montgomerie and Paul Lawrie in Saturday afternoon's fourballs.
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2002 - The Belfry
Paul Azinger: After the event at The Belfry was postponed by a year following the 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, Woods began his third participation alongside captain's pick Azinger.
Another brief partnership ended in a 1 down defeat to Clarke and Thomas Bjorn in the opening fourballs match.
Mark Calcavecchia: Woods' record in the competition was beginning to become quite alarming - the then eight-time major champion couldn't find the ideal partner.
Calcavecchia didn't provide any change to his record as a loss to Garcia and Westwood marked an abrupt end to another partnership.
Davis Love III: For the second edition in a row Woods was playing with his third different partner over the three-day event but Strange appeared to have found an ideal partner in Love.
The duo won both of Saturday's matches, becoming an obvious pick next time around should they both earn selection, but they were unable to prevent a home victory for Europe.
2004 - Oakland Hills
Phil Mickelson: Hal Sutton's experiment proved unsuccessful as the two leading lights of the American side lost both their matches on the opening day.
The defeats to experienced Europeans in Montgomerie and Padraig Harrington, Clarke and Westwood were narrow but enough for Sutton to make a change in plans.
Chris Riley: In his only Ryder Cup appearance Riley remains the only player to hold a perfect record playing alongside Woods.
Their one match together saw the duo defeat Clarke and Ian Poulter convincingly in the morning fourballs but the two, who had formed a good friendship in junior golf, were then split up.
Davis Love III: Sutton's strategy as captain was becoming questionable as he opted to change a winning partnership and revert Woods back with Love.
Arguably, the mistake was to not have initially played Love alongside Woods on the first day and Irish duo Harrington and Paul McGinley eased to a convincing 4&3 win in the afternoon foursomes as USA suffered a heavy defeat on home soil.
2006 - K Club
Jim Furyk: This year's USA captain was the first player Woods played the entirety of the week alongside and the two proved their credentials together under the captaincy of Lehman.
They were deemed a top pairing for the American side and delivered a point from the opening fourballs before suffering defeat at the 18th against Luke Donald and Garcia in the afternoon.
Despite a second defeat on the bounce against Clarke and Westwood, Lehman persisted with the duo and they rewarded their captain with a comfortable win against Harrington and McGinley, albeit in a losing cause as Europe's dominance on home soil continued.
2010 - Celtic Manor
Steve Stricker: Woods formed a strong partnership with Stricker, known for his accuracy from tee to green and consistency on the greens, in Wales as weather forced the opening fourball session to go into the second day.
They followed it up with a convincing 4&3 victory against Jimenez and Harrington in the lead foursomes match on Saturday before suffering a heavy defeat against Donald and Westwood in a dominant third session for the Europeans which turned the tie in their favour.
2012 - Medinah
Steve Stricker: An event to forget for Woods as he lost all three matches he played in alongside Stricker, including two defeats on the 18th hole - one of which came against Garcia and Donald as Europe began their memorable comeback in Saturday's afternoon session.
Stricker remains the only player to have played alongside Woods since 2006 but that will soon change at Le Golf National.
2018 - Le Golf National?
Rookie Bryson DeChambeau is seen as the leading candidate to play together with Woods this week. It remains to be seen whether he can help improve a resurgent Woods' record in the event or whether it may prove to be another brief partnership.
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