He is the man who beat Tiger Woods seven times at the Ryder Cup, but never won a major

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Tiger Woods’ Ryder Cup record is one of the great mysteries in sport.

How is it that the greatest golfer of all time could have won the Ryder Cup just once in eight appearances, with an individual record of 13-21-3? Woods’ Ryder Cup record is abysmal, and his poor form in the event spanned 20 years. 

Scottie Scheffler said Woods’ aura made him challenging to partner with. The overbearing presence he carried around the golf course, which earned him so much success as an individual, brought the worst out of his partners during team events.

Woods is 9-19-1 in foursomes and fourball events at the Ryder Cup. From 1997 to 2018, Woods lost matches to 18 different opponents. But one man proved to be his biggest nemesis, beating the 15-time major winner seven times. 

The player with a 7-1-0 record against Tiger Woods at the Ryder Cup

The biggest thorn in Woods’ side wasn’t a major winner like Sergio Garcia or Padraig Harrington. In fact, it was Lee Westwood who took seven points from Woods over the course of his Ryder Cup career. 

Woods beat Westwood only once in eight opportunities, and that match came down to the 18th green. Westwood won 87.5% of the points against Woods and handed him a devastating defeat in 2010.

At Celtic Manor, Westwood and Luke Donald beat Woods and Steve Stricker 6&5. Westwood also took down the infamous Woods and Phil Mickelson partnership in 2004 alongside Darren Clarke. 

Woods played with seven different partners against Westwood and still only won once. And that was with Westwood teeing off alongside five different players himself. It’s not as if Europe had found a legendary duo featuring Westwood. 

Westwood himself has a solid Ryder Cup record. Individually, he was 21-20-6. He won the tournament seven times during one of Europe’s most successful ever periods. 

Mickelson may have named his putter “Tiger Slayer” after beating Woods repeatedly in the late 2000s, but the real Tiger Slayer is Westwood. 

Lee Westwood took down Ryder Cup goliaths

Westwood was somewhat of a giant killer at Ryder Cups for Team Europe. He played against a number of major championship winners and had success in key matches.

In addition to his dominant record against Woods, Westwood has a winning record against Mickelson. He was 3-2-1 over six matches against the three-time Masters winner, and went undefeated against him between 2004 and 2010. 

He also has a brilliant record against 2003 U.S. Open winner Jim Furyk. Westwood was 5-1-2 against him over seven Ryder Cups. 

While he has never won a major championship, Westwood can hang his hat on being able to go toe-to-toe with the game’s greatest players on the biggest stage.