Lee Westwood has questioned whether Tiger Woods will have a positive impact in his role as a Ryder Cup vice-captain.
Woods has not played competitively since August last year following a third back operation in the space of 19 months, but will be at Hazeltine next week as part of American captain Davis Love’s backroom staff.
Despite winning 14 majors and spending a record 683 weeks as world number one, Woods lost 17 of his 33 Ryder Cup matches, and Westwood is not convinced the 40-year-old will be a huge asset off the course.
“I don’t know what impact there will be from having Tiger around,” Westwood said. “They [the US team] have always struggled to find a partner for Tiger that’s been successful. He could have an adverse effect in the team room. People have always seemed to try to do too much when they have partnered him. It might be different if he’s one of the vice-captains – you don’t know.”
Europe are seeking an unprecedented fourth straight victory in the biennial contest, and Westwood, who will make a 10th consecutive appearance after being given a wild card by captain Darren Clarke, believes the pressure is on the home team.
Favourites
“They have got a strong side and probably are favourites, but they haven’t won it for a while and they are playing in front of a home crowd. There is a lot of pressure on them.”
Meanwhile Martin Kaymer is putting a positive spin on playing this week’s Porsche European Open “blind” after bad weather disrupted the Ryder Cup star’s preparations.
Torrential rain over the weekend left parts of the course at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach under water and led to the cancellation of practice rounds and the traditional pre-tournament pro-am.
That means the likes of two-time Major winner Kaymer, who did not play in the event last year when it returned to the European Tour schedule after an absence of six years, will be at a distinct disadvantage when play gets under way today.
Amateur
“It will be interesting having not played the course,” the former world number one told a press conference. I think the last time that has happened for me was as an amateur.
“Usually we can always play on Tuesday or at least play the pro-am. I don’t know the golf course and I have to go out later and walk it with Craig [Connelly, his caddie], then at least we’ve seen it once before we tee off and we just go.
“It’s not that bad a thing, sometimes we over-practice and over-prepare to just go out there, be open, and play.
“I think you just need the attitude that you won’t do everything perfectly right or notice everything at first, like where the danger is. Of course you see it but it depends a little on the golf course too, is it complicated, lots of doglegs? I have no idea so I think you’ve just got to be open and don’t put yourself under too much pressure.”
Kaymer was also one of Clarke’s three wild cards picks and the 31-year-old, who won the point which ensured Europe retained the trophy at Medinah in 2012, insists he has no concerns about fatigue at the end of a busy summer.
“We have only two tournaments in Germany unfortunately, so last year I played in Munich and this year I thought, because I had heard a lot of good things about the Porsche European Open, why not go there this year.
“I’m the kind of guy who likes to play a few in a row, and you shouldn’t talk too much about the Ryder Cup this week because I’m here to play this event as well as I can. But in the past it was always the case that I did well when I played three or four in a row.”
(Guardian service)
