Tiger vaults to No. 24 in U.S. Ryder Cup points

Tiger Woods has climbed to No. 24 in the United States Ryder Cup team points following his first consecutive top-five finishes in nearly five years.

Woods was named a vice captain last month by captain Jim Furyk, but said at the time that his goal was to earn a spot playing on the team as well despite having played in just two PGA Tour events in his return from a fourth back surgery. Since then, Woods has posted a 12th-place finish at The Honda Classic, a tie for second at the Valspar Championship and a tie for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Ranked outside of the top 1,000 players in the world last year and No. 656 entering 2018, the 42-year-old Woods vaulted another 44 spots to No. 105 on Monday. Rory McIlroy, who won Sunday on the PGA Tour for the first time since 2016, climbed six spots to No. 7.

Woods earned 338.2 points for his fifth-place finish Sunday, moving up eight spots in the U.S. Ryder Cup team points, surpassing 2017 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele. However, he still has a long way to go. The top eight automatic spots remained unchanged, headed by Justin Thomas. He is followed by Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar, Brian Harman and Patrick Reed.

Rickie Fowler moved up one spot to No. 9, followed by Gary Woodland. While Woods faces a big challenge to earn an automatic spot on the team, which will be determined after the 100th PGA Championship in August, Furyk also has four captain’s picks. Three will be announced after the Dell Technologies Championship the first week of September, with the final selection made after the BMW Championship.

If Woods continues his strong form, he could prove difficult for Furyk to leave off the team. The 14-time major winner has been installed as a favorite by some oddsmakers for the Masters next month.

Woods, Davis Love III and Steve Stricker have been named as vice captains for the team that will compete in the 42nd Ryder Cup to be held Sept. 28-30 at Le Golf National in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, only the second time the event will take place in continental Europe and the first time in France.

“My goal is to make the team,” Woods said in a video statement last month. “But whatever happens over the course of this season, I will continue to do whatever I can to help us keep the Cup.”

Woods served as a vice captain for the winning team at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn. in 2016. He has played in seven Ryder Cups as a player, posting a 13-17-3 overall record.

“He’s been a part of this process from starting with the task force and now the Ryder Cup committee,” Furyk said last month when asked about why he chose Woods. “Arguably the best, or one of the best, players of all time.”

The United States has not won on European soil since 1993 at The Belfry, and is seeking its first consecutive Ryder Cup victories since 1991 and ’93.

–Field Level Media