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Tiger casts doubt on Ryder Cup spot

Tiger Woods is feeling the heat on the course at the moment © Getty Images

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Tiger Woods has cast doubt on his participation at the Ryder Cup, but retained his world No. 1 spot despite his worst finish as a professional.

A final-round 77 saw Woods finish the Bridgestone Invitational at 18-over-par. It made painful viewing at times as the 14-time major winner sprayed the ball all round the course. It looked like his finish would see him surrender his world No. 1 spot, but Phil Mickelson shot a woeful 78 to miss out on taking over at the top of the game.

Woods will look to regroup ahead of next week's US PGA Championship, but he is far from confident and the Ryder Cup in October looks a long way off.

Asked if he would be in the team at Celtic Manor, Woods replied: "Not playing like this, definitely not, not playing like this. I mean, I wouldn't help the team if I'm playing like this. No one would help the team if they're shooting 18-over par. I think I can turn it around, but we've got a lot of time between now and then, which is good."

Woods suggested it could be some time before he gets his game back into any kind of shape. "I went through something like this when I changed my swing in '98 and '99, second half of '97. I had periods where it wasn't very good. When I was struggling right before I went with Hank, it wasn't quite this bad. But when I kind of tore my swing apart with Butch [Harmon] after basically the Masters in '97, it took me two years to get it back before I started playing well."

Mickelson appeared to be weighed down by the pressure of having the world No. 1 spot in his grasp and it would appear the left hander is growing frustrated by the constant talk.

"If I keep finishing ahead of them every week eventually it'll happen, but the problem is there's guys behind me that will pass me because I'm not playing well enough right now," Mickelson said. "I've got some work to do to get my own game sharp."

Hunter Mahan's victory at Firestone propelled him up the world rankings from 31 to 12 and he is well placed to claim a place in the USA Ryder Cup team.

World Rankings: 1. Tiger Woods (USA), 2. Phil Mickelson (USA), 3. Lee Westwood (Eng), 4. Steve Stricker (USA), 5. Jim Furyk (USA), 6. Ernie Els (RSA), 7. Luke Donald (Eng), 8. Rory McIlroy (NI), 9. Paul Casey (Eng), 10. Ian Poulter (Eng), 11. Graeme McDowell (NI), 12. Hunter Mahan (USA), 13. Martin Kaymer (GER), 14. Anthony Kim (USA), 15. Retief Goosen (RSA), 16. Padraig Harrington (IRE), 17. Robert Allenby (Aus), 18. Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), 19. Sean O'Hair (USA), 20. Justin Rose (Eng)

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