Leader of the pack wants Tiger to roar

David Smith|Evening Standard|In Rochester

14 April 2012

Tiger Woods will be urged to become a cheerleader for the United States Ryder Cup team next year.

Hal Sutton, who has succeeded Curtis Strange as captain of the American side, today revealed his belief that a roaring Tiger could inspire victory against the European side that will defend golf 's most prestigious team trophy at Oakland Hills near Detroit.

In three previous Cup appearances, Woods has preferred to play a low-key part in the American effort away from the golf course. That has led to criticism of the world No1 for only letting his clubs do the talking.

But Sutton has summoned Woods to a personal meeting next week when he will seek to persuade his star player to open up on all fronts.

Speaking before starting his challenge for the 85th US PGA Championship here at Oak Hill Country Club where, ironically, he was a member of the US team that lost the Ryder Cup to Bernard Gallacher's European side in 1995, Sutton said: "Tiger has not been very vocal, he's just tried to play his game.

"I don't have any doubt about how much Tiger cares. This man cares every time he puts that peg in the ground. I mean, if there's a person in the world that doubts how much Tiger cares then he doesn't understand the game very much.

"But I want to impress upon Tiger to share things. I don't think there's a player that will make the team alongside him that doesn't have the utmost respect for his abilities. And if he had something to share with the team, everybody would listen intently."

Sutton is desperate to reclaim the Ryder Cup that was lost to Europe during a dramatic match at The Belfry last September, so much so that he admitted he is prepared to let his 12-man squad off the leash when the 35th Ryder Cup match takes place on 17-19 September 2004.

That will concern those who fear a repeat of the boorish behaviour that marred the last Ryder Cup to be held in the United States, at Brookline near Boston four years ago.

On that occasion American spectators, fuelled by alcohol, hurled abuse at European players with particular spite being reserved for Colin Montgomerie.

Those outrages were then compounded on the last day when members of the American team made their infamous charge across the 17th green in celebration of Justin Leonard's 45ft birdie putt that effectively sealed an amazing comeback win, even though Jose Maria Olazabal still had his own long range putt to make.

Although Sutton actually played little-part in that incident, his fiery encouragement did help inspire the American team to overturn Europe's formidable four-point lead going into the final round of singles.

However, he was forced to restrain himself at The Belfry where both teams made a particular effort to restore the traditional sportsmanship of the competition.

That was the source of some frustration, as Sutton admitted: "I wanted to make sure that I made every step just right, and sometimes there was not room for me to be myself in that."

Significantly, he refused to make an outright condemnation of the invasion of the 17th green. Sutton, winner of the US PGA title in 1983, said: "Somebody might have defined it as over the top. I would have defined it as an uncontrollable urge to express enthusiasm."

He insisted that, next September, players from both sides would have responsibility to maintain the standards set at The Belfry. But he added: "It is a spirited competition and I don't want to put everybody in a straitjacket. There is a way to have a free will and still do it in the right way. That will be my challenge, to allow a person to be himself.

"I'm going to do my best as captain to keep everybody in check. But I'm not at all worried about what happened in '99. We are past it, we are moving forward and we will continue the process that was started in 2002 at The Belfry."

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