Tiger Woods Eases Corey Pavin's Ryder Cup Dilemma

Matt Kuchar defeated Martin Laird on the first playoff hole Sunday to begin the PGA Tour's FedExCup series with a victory at the Barclays. That was good for him.

Tiger Woods shot a closing 67 to finish T12 and that's great for U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Corey Pavin.

European captain Colin Montgomerie announced his final selections Sunday -- Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington and Edoardo Molinari -- and they came with more than a fair bit of second guessing. Pavin next week must round out his 12-man roster with four at-large invitations, and while the American captain denies any foregone conclusions, of course he wants Woods on his team.

Now the door is open to make it happen with no controversy attached.

Woods started The Barclays by shooting 65, his low round of the year. He finished with a 67. His middle two rounds were not nearly so strong. A second-day 73 and Saturday's third-round 72 left him 7 under and five strokes short of the playoff.

All the same, Woods' golf is interesting again. And promising.

More: Final Barclays Leaderboard | Photos

"If I would have putted like I did today in the middle two rounds I would be up there," Woods said Sunday after play was completed at Ridgewood CC in Paramus, N.J.

"That's what you have to do. And I putted good the first day and I putted good today. The middle two rounds I didn't. Consequently, I shot myself out of it."

Maybe that's not entirely true.

Woods started Saturday's third round with a first-hole triple bogey after yanking his tee out-of-bounds -- the result of being caught between swings as he again reworks his game.

"It'll end up probably costing me a chance to win the golf tournament," Woods said after the round, sounding more hyperbole than factual.

As it turned out, he may have been right.

But Woods did win the right to keep playing. Arriving in 112th place on the points list, Woods was looking at the real possibility of not being among the low 100 who advanced to the FedExCup's second-round Deutsche Bank Championship.

Sunday not only avoided that drama, it kept alive the possibility of still salvaging a victory out of this scandal-plagued season.

"The next three events, the next three venues I've won on," he said. "So I'm going to three venues I'm very familiar. Looking forward to it."

So can Pavin.

The American captain actually may have been the weekend's biggest winner.

Kuchar, although already having secured a place on the U.S. team off the points list, has his first victory of the season to springboard his confidence level. And Woods, inching his way closer to form, makes it easy for Pavin to extend an invitation.

It all but makes Pavin's coming announcement pretty simple.

Unlike Montgomerie's.

Left off the Euro team are England's Paul Casey and Justin Rose -- both ranked among the world's top 25.

"Well, I'd rather just comment on the strengths of the ones that have been picked other than the obvious ones that haven't," Montgomerie said. "We had an embarrassment of riches on this occasion, and I and our team had to leave out world stars, and Justin Rose and Paul Casey, I'm afraid, are those world stars that have been left out on this occasion."

Back at The Barclays, Kuchar would not be denied.

Kuchar closed with a 5-under 66 to finish 12 under, but it didn't look as though it would be enough. Laird, who began the day with a three-shot lead, had a one-stroke advantage as he walked to the 18th green, and needed two putts from just inside 25 feet for the victory. But the Scotsman who played college golf at Colorado State ran his first putt 7 feet past the hole and missed the come-backer for par.

From there Kuchar settled things quickly.

Back on the 18th hole, Kuchar pounded a 7 iron out of rough that ran to the back of the green, then caught just enough slope to curl back to the hole and stop 30 inches from the pin -- setting up a winning birdie.

Kuchar's first victory of the season came two weeks after he made his first Ryder Cup team, and pushes the former U.S. Amateur champ to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. It is also likely to move him to a career-best No. 10 in the world ranking.

"I would have shut down the year had I not won and been very pleased with my year," Kuchar said. "To win, it's an incredible year.

"There's nothing like the feeling of winning a PGA Tour golf tournament. You feel like you are the best player in the world for this week. I mean, it's just an amazing feeling to think there's 125 of the best players in the world started this week and I came out first. And it's an amazing feeling and one I'm awfully proud of."

Only Pavin could be happier.

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