Tiger not to blame for U.S. flop

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Toms never should have sat out a four-ball session Saturday morning, not after being the team’s best player Friday.

Mickelson should have sat out at least one session. He’s simply not mentally prepared to play five at the Ryder Cup.

DiMarco was overwhelmed by the length of the K Club and deserved three games, not five.

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Henry had the power and youthful passion to play five, yet he only played in three.

Verplank was mishandled, a foursomes player who played four-ball, a veteran who sat all day when he was told he would be involved.

All of them were factors in the U.S. loss, but nothing to do with Woods. What he could control was his golf and it got increasingly better as the matches went on. There’s no doubt sessions two and three hurt and it was during this time that Woods lost, first in foursomes, then in four-ball.

If you want to start with him when you dissect this Ryder Cup team, feel free, but he showed heart, unlike some others. For parts of five matches, he played in rain, mud, wind, and casual water. It wasn’t like he was going to give up, and hopefully the younger guys who are in line to be at this affair two years from now learned something from him.

The WGC American Express Championship gets underway Thursday outside of London and Woods will be shooting for his sixth consecutive PGA Tour win. If he does win, people will suggest it proves how selfish he is, that he can win the tournaments that provide individual fame and wealth, but he can’t win the team events.

Well, they call them “team” events for a reason and until Woods is provided a team to take with him, these affairs will hardly be the highlights to his resume.

They will still hurt, however. You can count on that.

Jim McCabe writes regularly for MSNBC.com and covers golf for the Boston Globe.

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