There won’t be another Tiger Woods anytime soon. With 15 majors, his legacy is unmatched — except in one area: the Ryder Cup. By his own standards, his record there is lackluster. Over a decade ago, Woods defended himself, even invoking Jack Nicklaus to make his point.

Before the 2004 Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills, Tiger Woods preempted questions about his underwhelming Cup record. With captain Hal Sutton pushing him to step up, Woods asked reporters, “Anybody know what Jack Nicklaus’ record is in the Ryder Cup?” Silence followed. Then he added, “How many majors did he win?” The room quickly replied, “18,” and Woods seemed satisfied.

What Woods was making clear was his view of legacy. Jack Nicklaus, the only name that matches the legacy of Woods, has one of the most dominant career records in the history of golf. And his Ryder Cup record can also not be ignored. It is far better than that of Woods.

In the six Ryder Cups from 1969 to 1981, Nicklaus had accumulated 17 wins, 8 losses, and 3 halved matches. This makes his winning percentage a stellar 66%. He was on the winning side five times, and later also got a chance to captain the US team twice, leading one of them to victory.

Despite this, no one remembered his record. What they knew was his 18 major titles. And that was the point Woods was making.

The entire case of Woods not prioritising the Ryder Cup started two years back in 2002 at the Belfry. He ended the tournament with two wins, two losses, and one halved match. Europe won 15.5 to 12.5. All this came after Woods had said that he would rather win a World Golf Championship event than focus on the Ryder Cup. The same year, he made a clear distinction, “…Not saying the Ryder Cup is not important, but it is a completely different animal…a team effort.”

Tiger already had a reputation of being a closed-off, introverted guy, and his subtle hints at Ryder Cup’s ‘team efforts’ somehow made it clear that he cannot thrive in such an atmosphere. Even Bryson DeChambeau once recalled how Woods would focus just on his game rather than lending a helping hand to anyone.

So, of course, when Sutton got the reins of captaincy in 2004, he wanted Woods to realise the importance of the event. He publicly stated that Woods will be judged not just on his major victories but also on his Ryder Cup performances (a foreshadowing indeed). But it all went down the drain with Woods’s response to the media that year.

In fact, his performance that year at Oakland Hills also did not help much. Sutton had paired Woods with Phil Mickelson, a very anticipated pairing. But it failed spectacularly, with them losing both matches in the Friday sessions. The Americans suffered their worst loss on home soil in Ryder Cup history, with Europe winning 18.5 to a laughable 9.5.

By 2004, Tiger Woods had played four Ryder Cups (1997, 1999, 2002, 2004) with a record of 7-11-2 and only one team win, in 1999. While the Ryder Cup was never his top priority, he sometimes took the blame, saying, “Well, certainly I am responsible for that, because I didn’t earn the points that I was put out there for.”

Last year, offered the US captaincy, Woods declined, citing his busy schedule: “With my new responsibilities to the TOUR and time commitments involved, I felt like I would not be able to commit the time to Team USA and the players required as a captain.” The role then went to Keegan Bradley.

So yeah, Tiger Woods’ remarks at the 2004 Ryder Cup can be taken as an answer to his questionable performance in the event. But did he improve his performance since then? Let us take a look at that.

Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup performance post 2004

After the 2004 Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods returned to the event four more times (2006, 2010, 2012, 2018). Individually, one can say he had a mixed performance. But the team results meanwhile remained disappointing. The US has lost in all these Ryder Cups.

At the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club, Woods had one of his best post-2004 showings. He had a 3-2-0 record for the week, a bright spot even as Europe won with an 18.5 – 9.5 victory. In 2010 at Celtic Manor, Woods again shone individually, as 3-1-0. He was chosen as a captain’s pick by Corey Pavin and delivered his best individual performance after 2004.

But after that, it all went downhill. At Medinah in 2012, Woods struggled massively with a 0-3-1 record. It contributed to a dramatic loss for the US as Europe staged a historic comeback to win 14.5 – 13.5, as the away team. Woods’s inability to perform well drew sharp criticism as he otherwise had a strong form that year on the PGA Tour with three victories. And then came his worst performance in 2018 in France with a 0-4-0 record. Woods later cited fatigue and a lack of preparation for the event as a major factor. “I was tired because I hadn’t trained for it. I hadn’t trained this entire comeback to play this much golf, and on top of that, deal with the heat and the fatigue…”

Across those four Ryder Cups, Woods posted a combined record of 6-10-1. While that represented a small improvement over his earlier Ryder Cup career percentage, it did little to change the narrative. The broader story remains after all these years: His Ryder Cup career never matched the heights of his major championship dominance.