Tiger Woods Is the Weak Link for the US at the Ryder Cup Thus Far

On the links in Saint-Quentin en Yvelines in France, Tiger Woods has been the weak one so far.

After winning five days ago in Atlanta at the Tour Championship, Woods played like a different guy during his four-ball match with partner Patrick Reed against England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Italy’s Francesco Molinari.

Initially leading in the match, neither Woods nor Reed could make a birdie down the stretch and lost five of the final nine holes to lose.

“We just started making some putts,” Molinari said. “We played pretty good on the front nine. Patrick holed a great chip on 10 and that got us going. We had nothing to lose at that point. Tommy holed two amazing putts on 15 and 16. There’s a long way to go. We need to keep our heads down and keep working.”

Prior to the loss by Woods and his partner, the U.S. held a commanding 3-0 lead and looked like it might sweep the opening session at the tourney.

Now 13-18-3 in Ryder Cup play, Woods was benched for the afternoon foursomes session and has not won a Ryder Cup match since defeating Molinari in singles at the 2010 tourney in Wales.

No thanks to Woods and Reed, the U.S. does still lead the Cup 3-1.

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Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”