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Love III: Woods is the U.S. Ryder Cup team's 'tactician'
Tiger Woods is playing a big role in planning for the Ryder Cup.
Serving as an assistant captain to Davis Love III, Woods has apparently been spending his time off from competitive golf — which passed the one-year mark last week — trying to come up with the best possible pairings and practice pods (or groups) for the upcoming matches at Hazeltine National in September.
“Tiger was on the Task Force, he’ll be a future captain, so he’s got to be a part of the decision-making process of this whole new, Ryder Cup committee,” Love said in a diary for PGA.com.
Love and Woods were among the players named to the PGA of America-created Ryder Cup Task Force, formed after the U.S. was drubbed by the Europeans in the 2014 matches at Gleneagles in Scotland. Love, who was losing captain in 2012, got the job again as part of an effort to create continuity in leadership and set a standard moving forward. Woods, as well other members like Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, are set to serve as vice-captains now and in future years in preparation for becoming captain.
Love clearly has confidence in Woods to take on match-making.
“Tiger is more interested in the strategy side of it — rounding out the team with picks, or making small groups, making pairings,” Love said. “He’s our tactician more than anything. And he’s really been helpful on how to prepare for a major championship. He’s like me. He’s excited about it, he doesn’t sleep much, he puts a lot of thought into it. There’s a reason why he’s arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the game. He knows how to prepare, he knows how to think his way around a golf course, around a golf tournament. He’s committed to being a part of it and he means it.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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