You won’t see Tiger Woods donned in red, white and blue with a beard and an earpiece this week at Whistling Straits for the 43rd Ryder Cup. The eight-time competitor in the biennial event between the United States and Europe is still recovering from serious right leg injuries suffered in a one-car accident in the Los Angeles area in February.
But that doesn’t mean his presence isn’t being felt along the shores of Lake Michigan.
After Team USA cruised to a 3-1 win in the Friday morning Foursomes session, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay were talking to Golf Channel’s Steve Sands about the mindset when holding a large lead (the Americans won the first five holes of the match).
Schauffele instantly brought up Woods.
“We’re all square, keep pushing,” Schauffele said of the early lead. “We got a nice message from Tiger last night, obviously we’re not gonna reveal what it said, but Pat and I knew we referred to it a few times today and we knew what we needed to do.”
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“We knew he was fist-pumping from the couch,” continued Schauffele, who earned his first point in his Ryder Cup debut alongside Cantlay. “Whether he was on crutches or not, he’s as fired up as any back at home so it’s nice to have his support.”
“No better role model, no better leader, just somebody that you can always learn from,” added Cantlay. “I saw him last week at home and just picked his brain on Ryder Cup and applied some of that here today.”