Woods determined to prove more than a match

Ryder Cup: World No 1 laughs off criticism of his commitment to American cause and states mission to master the man-on-man format

Of all the relative terms in sport, perhaps "Tiger Woods under pressure" wins the prize. It reminds you a bit of the downbeat headline award the novelist Graham Greene once collected. "Small earthquake in Chile," he scrawled. "Not many killed."

The story from here yesterday was Woods facing the golfing world after trashing some of the mythology of the Ryder Cup. Woods looked and sounded about as pressurised as the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo getting the bill for his morning coffee.

If Greene were still around, he might have offered, "World's greatest golfer grilled – No smell of burning". Predictably, Woods was not repentent. "You guys got me wrong, for Christ's sake," he said with a smile. "I was joking. My words were taken out of context. If you'd seen the video, you would have said, 'Oh yes, I understand'."

For those who still didn't, he offered a stirring little assessment of his possible value to the American team, which is expected start the crushing of Europe on Friday morning.

"No-one should be mistaken, I've come here to make my contribution and I'm hoping it is a big one," he said. "You know, I'm not a rah-rah type of guy that's going to give great speeches before I play. That's not my personality. I'm going to be the guy that's going out to compete and everyone on the team knows I'm going to give it 100 per cent. I've done that in each and every tournament I've ever played. And you know I think that might be what I bring to the table.

"No matter how bleak it may be in my matches – I might be seven down, they know I'm going to keep fighting no matter what. And hopefully that will help."

What Woods seemed most keen to address was the stark imbalance between his mastery of strokeplay and his considerably less awesome record in the mano a mano of matchplay. The relevant statistics plainly do not sound in his ears quite like a rhapsody: world championship strokeplay, four wins in seven attempts, world championship matchplay, zero of four and a defeat by one of Sunday's possible single opponents, Darren Clarke. There is no relief in the Ryder Cup record: won three, halved one, and lost six."

He points out that he was in his first year as a professional when he played his first Ryder Cup, in Sotogrande in 1997 – "that's when I had to be wet-nursed around the course. I'm asked about the differences between matchplay and strokeplay, well the big difference in the Ryder Cup is that it's over 18 holes and that can be a boat race. If I prefer strokeplay, it is probably because you get chances to put things right. The better you play, the more likely you are to win over 72 holes."

The prejudice is maybe understandable. One of the most shattering experiences of his sporting life, he explained, was losing in the Southern Californian Junior matchplay tournament. It wasn't so much a defeat as the shedding of certainties he had held since he was closing down on scratch golf while still in infant school. "I couldn't understand how I lost a quarter-final game, "he recalled, "because I was more under par than the guy I was playing. It just didn't make any sense. But that's matchplay for you. So, yes, you can learn. It is just not something you're born to. I think there's a certain attitude you've got to have. You have to see an answer to whatever your opponent does. If he hits one stiff, you have to step up and hit one inside of him. If he makes a putt, you have to bury it on top of him. If you're outside of him, you have to make that putt first.

"You have to know when the critical moments are in a match, when it's starting to turn, and how you can turn it to your side. These are just things which come with experience. I've had a lot of matchplay experiences and I've won matches lots of different ways."

Tiger's spurt of consciousness was given another surge when he was asked, "So you play the man, not the course?"

It wasn't, suggested Woods quite patiently, a question of either-or. It was a seamless mystery which, he suggested, he was rather hoping to unravel in the next few days. "You have to play both the man and the course because a lot of times if he's in the water that dictates what you're going to do. You take a five-iron out and put it in play, who cares? He's probably going to make five or six. You have to gauge it. You have to know when you're playing the man and when you're playing the course. You play it by feel and play it by ear – and that stuff can only come with experience."

So, of course, does a proper way of handling yourself on a Ryder Cup course. For someone allegedly indifferent to the mystique of old Sam Ryder's concept of the best of golfing competition waged across the Atlantic, Woods seemed remarkably keen on putting the rampant chauvinism of Brookline Country Club, Boston, three years ago into the dustbin of sporting history.

"At Brookline," he said, "I think it went over the top from all aspects, not only the players but the fans, the media, and everyone. I think everyone crossed the line. Everyone went over the top. But I think we all realise that, and this Ryder Cup is going to be different. I sensed a different mood on the course today. I heard a lot of European accents saying, 'nice shot.' I really think that's the way it is meant to be played. Unfortunately, it changed but I think because of what transpired last year, we all have a better understanding of where this things need to be put."

As a matter of record, Woods had to be dragged from his bedroom to join in the celebrations over that American triumph in Boston. Another question mark against his passion for the Ryder Cup? Perhaps not, Maybe just one more statement that. for him, playing will always be the thing, even if it includes bailing out of an occasional "boat race".