Believe it or not, Rory McIlroy once thought of the Ryder Cup as an “exhibition” that engendered behavior not normally associated with a gentleman’s sport. Admittedly, it was a view from the outside looking in, and one that the former World Number One was quickly disabused of once he saw firsthand how golf’s premier golf event can turn the best of the best into putty and the seemingly overmatched into national heroes.
In light of experience culled from four fruitful stints as a stalwart of Team Europe, McIlroy now looks forward to the weekend in Paris. And even as he’s bent on helping the hosts regain the Cup, he understands that the outcome depends on not one single player, but on a collective effort. Which was why he couldn’t have been more right when, during a presser yesterday, he argued that Team USA captain’s pick Tiger Woods shouldn’t be the focus of discussions.
To be sure, Woods’ name comes up early and often whenever peers are interviewed by members of the media. It’s part and parcel of competing in the era of arguably the best ever to have wielded a club. And considering that he just managed to pull off a victory five years after his last, in the process overcoming significant physical and personal hurdles, the references were bound to increase heading into the Ryder Cup. In fact, McIlroy was not the only target of the so-called Tiger Inquisition. Everybody took turns in front of the microphone answering query after query about him.
Granted, the constant requests for quotes about an opponent can be grating. On the other hand, McIlroy & Co. know that they wouldn’t be at least sharing the spotlight and reaping hitherto-unimaginable benefits had Woods not burst into the scene and taken the sport by storm. For all the strides golf’s legends previously made in downplaying its elitist nature, only when he turned professional in 1996 did it start generating and thereafter holding the interest of casual fans.
Indeed, Woods’ presence has been good to all and sundry, and Paris for the next four days will be all the better for it. After his dramatic triumph at the Tour Championship over the weekend, not a few pundits contended that he’s back. In truth, he never really left; as McIlroy‘s grilling by the press yesterday shows, he has invariably been front and center, casting a shadow on the course and outside the ropes. The Ryder Cup is contested by 24, but there can be only one, and he’s it.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.
