Dubai: Europe won’t be afraid of Tiger Woods if he makes it into America’s Ryder Cup squad as a player this year, according to veteran Northern Irish golfer Ronan Rafferty.
The 14-time Major winner was named as a vice captain in Jim Furyk’s squad alongside Steve Stricker on Wednesday, but it’s still to be decided if that’s in a playing or non-playing capacity.
Woods, 42, missed the cut at last week’s Genesis Open in his third event back since aggravating a persistent back injury at last year’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic, which saw him miss most of 2017.
Despite not reaching the weekend at Riviera, Rory McIlroy said Tiger was ‘very close’ to regaining top form, but if that makes him a consideration for America’s Ryder Cup squad in Paris in September, Rafferty says it won’t faze the Europeans.
“I don’t think he’ll ruffle anyone,” said Rafferty, 54, who will be playing in the Sharjah Senior Masters at Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club from March 8-10.
“These guys are playing the best in the world week-in-week-out at all the biggest tournaments,” he said of Europe. “Ten years ago they might have stood on the tee thinking ‘oh gosh, I’m playing Tiger’, but right now they’ll think about taking a scalp.
“Youngsters are no longer afraid and that’s one thing that’s very obvious. They are no longer looking over their shoulder to see who’s coming at them. They are focused on what they are doing.
“He is and was a great player but are they afraid of him? I doubt it,” added Rafferty, who won seven times on the European Tour between 1989 and 1993, finishing tied for ninth in the 1984 Open Championship in his best ever Majors finish, before representing Europe in their 1989 Ryder Cup draw.
“I think if Tiger continues to play some nice golf and puts himself up leaderboards, he’ll put himself into contention and if he’s anywhere near qualifying he’ll be a hell of a call to make the team.
“It would be quite a comeback but Tiger’s the sort of guy who sets goals and makes them, he’s done extraordinary things over the last 20 years so don’t ever count him out.”
Rafferty said that doesn’t extend to Tiger being a force again straight away in the Majors this year however.
“The Majors are a different story altogether. He’s not just been out a year, he’s been out for three and a half of the last five, he’s only played about 12 tournaments in three or four years. We shouldn’t expect him to come back out and be ready to win.
“He’s got a lot of work to do. The world of golf has moved on in leaps and bounds and is not just waiting for him to come back out. Players today are super competitive, strong and working hard, Tiger hasn’t been able to put that work in and he’s back to discovering again what it takes and I think we need to give him comfortably a season to rediscover his desire. He needs to feel the adrenalin rush of being at the top of the leaderboard again and right now that will be his goal.”
Rafferty will feature in the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters from March 8-10, which is round one of the 20-stage Staysure Tour, the European Tour’s senior format.
