Tiger Woods blames himself for recent American Ryder Cup struggles

Tiger Woods' 4-1-1 record in Ryder Cup singles might contradict his statement. (Getty Images)

It's no secret that the Americans have struggled of late at the Ryder Cup. In the Presidents Cup they to do fine, and even at the Omega World Cup our countrymen seem to succeed. But there is something about the mix of Europeans and this format that has haunted the United States over the last few years.
In the eight recent Cups, the United States have lost six of them (taking home the ones in 2008 and 1999), and while there are plenty of fingers to be pointed one way or another, few actually take aim at the biggest name on either team's side.
But leave it up to Tiger Woods to say something controversial. During his Ryder Cup press conference, Woods said he should be blamed for the Americans' dud-performances at this event.

"Certainly I am responsible for that, because I didn't earn the points that I was put out there for," said Woods, who is 13-14-2 in the Ryder Cup. "I believe I was out there, what, in five sessions each time, and I didn't go 5-0 on our side. So I certainly am a part of that, and that's part of being a team. I needed to go get my points for my team, and I didn't do that."

I'm having a hard time figuring out if Tiger is being sarcastic here ("I didn't go 5-0 on our side") or just plain honest, but whatever it is, I don't think we need to point fingers at Woods.
Sure, his Ryder record of 13-14-2 in his six appearances here isn't great, but the guy is 4-1-1 in singles so maybe it isn't so much him as it is his playing partners.
Here is the list of guys Woods has been paired with since his debut at Valderrama in 1997; Mark O'Meara, Justin Leonard, Tom Lehman, David Duval, Steve Pate, Paul Azinger, Mark Calcavecchia, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson, Chris Riley, Jim Furyk, and Steve Stricker, so it hasn't exactly been a small, consistent list for Woods. Playing well with a partner has a lot to do with how you're simply striking the golf ball, but it's also about comfort and familiarity, and with Woods being tossed around with just about anyone (seriously, Steve Pate and Chris Riley?!) isn't exactly a recipe for success.
But it was nice to hear Woods shouldering the blame for the struggles of the red, white and blue. Woods most likely will get another shot with Stricker this week (they've been seen playing practice rounds together already at Medinah) and hopefully the two can re-create the Presidents Cup magic they first had together in San Francisco and be the rocks that this young American team will need.
Tiger isn't to blame for any of this, but it sure would be nice for American fans to give him the rightful credit if he was the main reason they stole this Cup back from the Europeans on Sunday.