Tiger Woods belongs on Ryder Cup team, says ex-captain Davis Love III

Tiger Woods, in the most chronicled practice round of his career and the Ryder Cup looming in September, may have had motives Wednesday at Valhalla beyond gauging his fitness for this week’s major tilt.

With his chances of making the Gleneagles team on his own merits looking dim -- especially after getting off to an extremely shaggy start to his PGA Championship (1-over at the turn) -- Woods hit the course for his first public swings since his withdrawal Sunday at Firestone with two guys who may have some sway with U.S. captain Tom Watson.

“It would be hard not to take a guy like him or Phil Mickelson [Woods’ opening-rounds playing partner at Valhalla] because that’s your experience, guys that have played a bunch of them,” 2012 skipper Davis Love III told Golf Channel after walking a practice round with Woods, Harris English and newly named assistant Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker.

Woods and Mickelson are in the midst of their worst seasons on the PGA Tour, with two injury-related WDs each, five missed cuts -- in just six events this season, Woods missed his first-ever 54-hole cut at Torrey Pines in January and failed to make the weekend in his first start after back surgery last month at Congressional -- and no top-10 finishes between them.

Mickelson began the week just outside the top nine players who will automatically earn spots on the team. Lefty’s chances may have improved on Thursday, after Matt Kuchar withdrew from the PGA with back spasms -- bad backs must be contagious on tour.

Still, the spotlight remains squarely on the winner of 79 tour events.

“It’s hard to go anywhere without your best player in the world, and Tiger’s been that for so long it would be hard not to take him,” added Love, for whom Woods went 0-3-1 two years ago at Medinah.

For sure, Woods is not the same player he was when the Europeans upset the Americans on their home turf two years ago. Recovering from yet another in a seemingly endless series of injuries, the 14-time major champion’s not even the same as the golfer who earned his last of five 2013 victories a year ago at the Bridgestone.

Sitting at 69th in Ryder Cup points to start the week at Valhalla, Woods has work to do to prove his worth to Watson, especially as he struggled with his irons early in Thursday’s round. Missing fairway after fairway on the back nine, his outgoing start, a poor approach to the par-4 16th hole stood out to Golf Channel analyst Arron Oberholser.

“To miss an iron from 200 yards for any professional golfer, let alone Tiger Woods, 34 yards to the left of your target, that’s a big miss. And short. A fat pull, basically,” Oberholser said after Woods salvaged the hole by chipping in for the first birdie of his round.

And it’s only gotten worse on Tiger’s second nine, the front nine at Valhalla. On the first two holes, he badly pulled his tee ball way left. The first went some 65 yards off the fairway into a hazard that was still playable.

But the second yank beyond the red stakes was submerged in a couple feet of water, forcing Tiger to drop. It’s not the best of starts for making an impression on Watson.

In addition to Woods’ fitness, Watson will be watching that kind of play carefully.

“Really honestly, it’s speculation what’s going to happen. I can’t tell you what’s going to happen with Tiger I don’t know his physical condition right now. And I said right from the beginning, if he’s playing well and he’s in good health, I’ll pick him,” Watson said Wednesday to the reporters not in the parking lot mobbing Woods, whose arrival on-site completely upstaged his would-be skipper.

“Obviously he’s not in great health right now and he hasn’t played very well. So the question is, ‘Will I pick him?’ Well, I can’t tell until things happen in the next three or four weeks,” Watson added. “Honestly can’t answer this.”

Stricker, sitting in on his captain’s presser, probably knows Woods better than most guys on tour, and his belief was that Tiger showed up at Valhalla to play his way onto the plane to Scotland.

“I know how deeply he wants to be a part of this team, and I think that’s why he’s here,” said Stricker, who offered Woods some putting tips during their sashay around the venue on which Tiger won the PGA Championship in 2000. “I think, obviously, he wants to get his game going but he wants to show that he can play, that he’s going to get healthy. Because he was on that last Ryder Cup team and we didn’t get it done.”

Stricker, echoing DL3, put in a good word for his 2012 Ryder Cup partner.

“We need Tiger on that team. We know how important he is in the game of golf, and how good a match‑play player he is; when you really do need him, he’ll be there,” said the 12-time tour winner. “We’ll see how it plays out this week. Hopefully he’s healthier and he can get his game going, and like I said, get it going in the right direction and be a part of the team.”

As for what Woods could do to boost his Ryder Cup chances, the golfer said it was pretty simple.

“Just play well,” he told reporters after playing nine holes and before he set off to walk the rest of the course on Wednesday. “That’s the only thing I can control. Try to go out there and win this event. That’s all I’m focused on.”

Oh, another reason to make Woods one of Watson’s three wild-card picks? He’s way more fun to be around than he used to be, said Love.

“He’s been a great guy around the team room. He’s a tough competitor on the Ping Pong table and on the golf course, and he’s fun to have around now,” Love observed. “He’s changed a lot in the last few years. He’s been a lot more fun in the locker room, on tour and on teams.”

So, yeah, there’s that, Cap’n Tom.