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Tiger Woods said the Ryder Cup was not the same without fans as he backed the decision to postpone the Whistling Straits showpiece until next year.<\/p>\nTiger Woods said the Ryder Cup was not the same without fans as he backed the decision to postpone the Whistling Straits showpiece until next year.<\/p>\n
The biennial clash between the United States and Europe had been due to take place in September, but continuing concerns over coronavirus meant event organizers were unable to guarantee the Wisconsin venue could safely host spectators this year and opted to push it back until 2021.<\/p>\n
Woods, who has played in eight Ryder Cups during his long and highly-successful career, highlighted how integral the fans were to the competition and said it could not take place without them.<\/p>\n
The 15-time major champion, who will be in competitive action for the first time since February at this week\u2019s Memorial Tournament, told a press conference streamed on the PGA Tour\u2019s Twitter account: \u201cQuite frankly, a Ryder Cup without fans is not the Ryder Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it is now, OK. So when the Ryder Cup first started there weren\u2019t that many people involved in the game but the world has expanded, the event has expanded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, as far as I can remember, I\u2019ve always seen people involved in a Ryder Cup \u2013 the chanting and screaming and the participation, the bipartisanship that has been part of the sport and part of the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think what they did with suspending it for the year and moving it to next year was the right thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t have an environment in which we could protect all the fans that were going to be involved and have that type of assurance. Obviously if that\u2019s the case, you can\u2019t have the fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, if you can\u2019t have the fans, then it\u2019s not the Ryder Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
Woods has the chance to make PGA Tour history this week, as he bids to overtake Sam Snead\u2019s long-standing record of 82 wins.<\/p>\n
The 44-year-old matched Snead when he claimed the Zozo Championship title in Japan last October and he has his sights set on returning to the winner\u2019s circle at Muirfield Village on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to say that I\u2019m going to win the event,\u201d added Woods, who has won this tournament five times before. \u201cThat\u2019s my intent coming in here, that\u2019s my intent going into every event.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether that plays out come Sunday, hopefully that will be the case. It was that one particular week, three tournaments ago at Zozo. There\u2019s no reason why I can\u2019t do it again this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Woods last teed it up in February, figures across global sport have shown their support for the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd.<\/p>\n
When asked about the positive difference the movement can make, Woods added: \u201cI think change is fantastic. As long as we make changes without hurting the innocent, and unfortunately that has happened, hopefully it doesn\u2019t happen in the future, but a movement and change is fantastic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how society develops, that\u2019s how we grow, that\u2019s how we move forward, that\u2019s how we have fairness. Unfortunately we\u2019ve lost innocent lives along the way, and hopefully we don\u2019t lose any more in the future as we move to a much better place socially.\u201d<\/p>\n