When you think of Tiger Woods, you think of the 15 major wins, the 82 PGA Tour victories and how he propelled the game of golf to an entirely different level.
But one thing you don’t immediately get in the forefront of your mind is Woods ever being absolutely outstanding when it came to the Ryder Cup.
Over the years, Woods has represented Team USA on countless occasions and has even served as vice-captain.
Eventually, Woods is expected to take up the role of captain and there were even suggestions he’d step into the role if Keegan Bradley moved aside this year.
However, while Woods’ career is littered with outstanding achievements, his Ryder Cup experiences are not always the best and that started all the way back on his debut in 1997.
Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty ImagesHow Tiger Woods failed to deliver at the 1997 Ryder Cup
Fresh off the back of his absolutely stunning win by 12 shots at the 1997 Masters, Tiger Woods went into the Ryder Cup as the rising star of the game.
However, while all eyes were on Woods and how he’d lead Team USA to glory, the opposite happened.
Team Europe emerged victorious at Valderrama by a single point and had Woods delivered on half of his promise, Team USA would have took the win.
Despite getting off to a winning start with Mark O’Meara in the Friday morning four-ball to see off Colin Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer, Woods never got going.
He picked up just a single half point for the rest of the event – against Jesper Parnevik and Ignacio Garrido – before crucially losing his singles match to the lesser known Constantino Rocca.
Despite being a solid player, Rocca went his whole career without winning a PGA Tour event but managed to see off Woods 4&2 in one of the shocks of the tournament.
Crucially, that point edged it for Europe alongside Bernhard Langer’s win over Brad Faxon.
Woods, meanwhile, was left with his tail between his legs and a rather embarrassing debut.
Tiger Woods’ overall record in Ryder Cups
In a nutshell, Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup record is, well, pretty woeful for a player of such talent.
Despite appearing in eight Ryder Cups and playing in 37 matches, he has a win percentage below 40% for his overall record.
In fact, he’s won just 13 times, losing 21 and halving three. For a player like Woods, who was so dominant in every other aspect of golf, that is simply not good enough.
Format ResultsFourball 5-10-0Foursome 4-9-1Singles 4-2-2Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup record
Winning just 14.5 points overall, Woods’ form in golf’s biggest team event is in stark contrast to his Presidents Cup form, where he has won 27.5 points and is second on the all-time list.
In the future, Woods will want to right these wrongs and win as a captain. But as a player, the cold hard facts are he just didn’t deliver.
