Tiger Woods and the Ryder Cup: Who’s beaten him in singles?
Ryder Cup excitement is reaching fever pitch as fans and players get ready for it to start in Le National in France this Friday.
MUCH has been said and written about Tiger Woods’s ‘poor’ record in the Ryder Cup.
While that is mostly true of his results in foursomes and fourball, his record in singles is not that bad at all.
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So, with the epic showdown between the USA and Europe due to tee off in France tomorrow (September 28), here’s a quick look at what he’s done on Ryder Cup Sunday.
1997 – Valderrama, Spain:
Woods was on debut and the Masters champion. But he lost to Italian Constantino Rocca and it wasn’t even close, with the score 4/2. It mattered as Europe won the Cup 14,5-13,5. This was Seve’s Ryder Cup, not even Tiger was going to deny him.
1999: Brookline, Massachusetts:
Who could forget the American comeback on Sunday to win 14,5-13,5. Woods did his bit, beating Scot Andrew Coltart 3/2. Player behaviour from the winners wasn’t great.
2002: Belfry, England:
This time around the Striped One was a multiple Major winner and just about untouchable. He was dating the Swede, Elin Nordegren, who had worked as an au pair for Jesper Parnevik, who would be Woods’s opponent, and they kept things friendly, ending in a half. It mattered not as Europe won comfortably, 15,5-12,5.
2004: Oakland Hills, Michigan:
Woods beat Englishman Paul Casey 3/2 on a day where Europe dominated in alarming fashion for supporters of USA. End score was an astonishing 18,5-9,5 win for Blue.
2006: K Club, Republic of Ireland:
Shake the bottle, repeat the dose. Woods beat Swede Robert Karlsson 3/2, and Europe again won 18,5-9,5.
2008: Valhalla, Kentucky:
Did not play. USA won 16,5-11,5.
2010: Celtic Manor, Wales:
It was the first time Woods went into the Ryder Cup without a Major to his name for the year. It didn’t matter and he easily beat Francesco Molinari 4/3. Europe held on for the win though, 14,5-13,5.
2012: Medinah, Illinois:
This is the one Americans most want to forget but for many pro-Europeans it was justice for what happened at Brookline. Woods’s game again against Francesco Molinari – last game one out – was still live when Europe notched up point number 14 and so retained the trophy. A dejected and probably properly fed up Tiger missed a short putt to hand Molinari a half.
2014: Gleneagles, Scotland.
Did not play. Europe won 16,5-11,5.
2016: Hazeltine, Minnesota.
Did not play. USA won 17-11.
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