Tiger Woods has back surgery, will miss The Masters

Just an FYI: The Masters, in practice, no longer gives lifetime exceptions to past champs. In theory, you can try to play into your 70s, but the club has made it clear they will bully you off the tee when your time comes.

 

Many, many good points here. The Narrative is going to be very difficult for some people to let go.

http://deadspin.com/at-least-the-tiger-woods-bullshit-machine-is-as-healthy-1557007267?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

 

And he'll (likely) miss the Open.

http://www.sbnation.com/golf/2014/4/16/5617794/tiger-woods-2014-us-open-matt-kuchar-americas-cup

 

That was a nice shot at Mr. Warmth.

 

Let's try to get our facts straight, shall we?
1. Woods is ninth on the all-time U.S. Ryder Cup for most points won with 14.5, ahead of Hale Irwin, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III and Julius Boros. All but Love in that group are in the Hall of Fame.
2. Woods is tied for ninth with Irwin for the most overall victories with 14, ahead of Floyd, Sam Snead and the beloved and sainted Tom Watson, who everyone thinks will inspire this year's team.
He's far from being a "shit" Ryder Cup player. Should he have been a better Ryder Cup player? Sure. So should have Love, Mickelson, Couples, Duval, Lehman, Calcavecchia, etc., examples of guys on multiple teams in the 1980s and 1990s.
http://www.rydercup.com/usa/history/2014-ryder-cup-team-records

 

There are no Perkins in Augusta.

 

According to those stats, his record is 13-17 (matches won, matches lost). I think a below-.500 lifetime record from the guy who supposedly is the GOAT justifies the description of him as a crappy Ryder Cup player.

 

You're not crappy if you've won more matches and scored more points than several Hall of Famers who have somehow gotten the reputation of being stud Ryder Cup players (Floyd, Watson, Irwin). And as usual, you missed the point. I never said Woods was a good Ryder Cup player. I'm just saying that when you have a better record in terms of points and victories than those guys, you're not "crappy" or "shitty."

 

So if you stipulate that Woods is NOT a good Ryder Cup player, what does that make him then?

 

Not as bad as you and some of the other anti-Tiger people think.

 

Pretty average. You would expect that whenever he tees it up, his pairing would be the favorite. But, as the record indicates, it's nothing like that, slightly below .500.

 

Watson went 10-4-1 in four Ryder Cups; Irwin 13-5-2. Irwin would have to lose 12 consecutive matches to equal Tiger's 13-17-3 mark.