US Must Let It Ryde With Tiger Woods

Filed under: Ryder Cup

Tiger Woods' golfing body has been inhabited by Charles Barkley. Would you want Sir Charles on the U.S. Ryder Cup team?

I would, simply for the laughs and the chance he might spit on Colin Montgomerie. If you're a serious golf fan, you undoubtedly disagree. But for most of humanity the Ryder Cup's primary function is merely to entertain.

What would be more entertaining -- watching Tiger Woods or Ben Crane take on the Ryder challenge?

Nothing against Crane, Ricky Barnes, Rickey Fowler, Ricky Ricardo or any of the other fine golfers Corey Pavin might extend a captain's pick to. But check the latest world rankings. How many of those other guys are No. 1 in Golf, Legal Bills and Prurient Public Interest?
The Other Side

" If you have a choice between refining your own game in the privacy of familiar surroundings, or tromping through Wales in search of a wayward tee shot while drunken British louts berate you from the links, which would you choose?"
-- Clay Travis on why Tiger Woods does not deserve to be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team
Are they hitting their golf balls with more precision than Woods? Yes, but the Venus de Milo would have to give Tiger five shots a side right now. Based solely on that fact, about the only people who think Woods should make the team are British tabloid publishers.

I'm asking you to see the bigger picture. A Ryder Cup without Tiger would be like "Playboy" without the pictures.

What would be accomplished by leaving him off the plane to Wales? Yeah, yeah, the U.S. might stand a better chance of winning. I say might because, despite the fact he hasn't made a birdie since Memorial Day, the golfer who won 14 majors is still in there somewhere.

He might come out by October. He might not. Either way, I'd rather have Woods face a five-foot putt with my life on the line than Dustin Johnson.

More importantly than my life, wouldn't you rather watch a scandal-weary Tiger face such a putt? Since there's no prize money in the Ryder Cup, he wouldn't have to worry about Elin getting half if he makes it.

And if he missed, so what?Pirates Padres American League National League