Woods still considered for Ryder Cup

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

Tiger Woods remained No. 1 in the world ranking Monday, though not even close to that on two lists — the Ryder Cup and FedEx Cup — that mean much more these days.

Woods failed to qualify for the Ryder Cup for the first time — he had led the standings every other time since 1997 — and now must rely on U.S. captain Corey Pavin spending one of four wild-card picks on him.

In a hotel conference room Monday, Pavin sat at the head table between two poster boards, each showing the final standings for the eight American qualifiers. Woods’ name was nowhere to be found between Phil Mickelson at No. 1 and Matt Kuchar at No. 8.

Pavin would only say that Woods is “high on my list” and will be a “big consideration” when he announces his selections Sept. 7.

“I’m looking at him in essence like any other player. He isn’t ... but he is,” Pavin said. “I’m certainly not going to disrespect other players by considering him different from other players. I have to look at the way he’s playing, the way he played, and I have to look at his body of work as well. If anyone can turn it around quickly, it’s him.”

Woods should have at least one more tournament to make an impression.

While he wound up No. 12 in the Ryder Cup standings, equally troublesome is that Woods is No. 108 in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 125 are eligible for The Barclays next week at Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, the start of the PGA Tour playoffs. Only the top 100 in the standings advance to the second round of the playoffs at the Deutsche Bank Championship outside Boston.

Woods is so far down in the FedEx Cup standings he’s one spot behind Pavin.

“He’s ranked a lot higher on Ryder Cup points,” Pavin said with a laugh, “and probably the world ranking, I’m guessing.”

Despite the shockingly low numbers next to Woods’ name, Pavin came away from the PGA Championship encouraged as much by what he heard from Woods as what he saw from him.

Woods said at the start of the week that he wants to play in the Ryder Cup and would accept a captain’s pick. Even after he closed with a 1-over 73 to tie for 28th at Whistling Straits, he joked that he could still help out in singles. His Ryder Cup record is 10-13-2, including 3-1-2 in singles.

“I feel my game is a lot better than it was obviously last week, and given a little bit more time, it’s starting to head in the right direction now,” Woods said.

Pavin was asked about the pros and cons of taking Woods, and he could think only of the positives.

“He’s the No. 1 player in the world — that’s a pretty good ‘pro,”’ Pavin said.