Woods wants to be picked for Cup

Tiger Woods tips his cap on the 18th green after finishing his final round of the British Open on Sunday. Stefan Wermuth / Reuters

Even after his worst 72-hole finish in a major, Tiger Woods says he would pick himself for the Ryder Cup team.

His first major of the year, and second tournament since March 31 back surgery, was not much of an audition for US captain Tom Watson. Woods was never the same after opening the British Open with a 69. The mistakes kept piling up, and so did the big numbers, and he closed with a 3-over 75 on Sunday at Royal Liverpool.

"I just made too many mistakes," Woods said.

He finished at 6-over 294, matching his highest score in the British Open. Only three players had a worse score, including US Open champion Martin Kaymer, and Woods finished in 69th place. His previous worst was a tie for 40th in the PGA Championship last year and the 2012 Masters.

Woods wound up 23 shots behind Rory McIlroy, by six shots, his worst deficit ever in a major.

He didn't even beat the 64-year-old captain. Watson birdied his last hole for a 68.

"It's just one day. It's a snapshot," Watson said. "It's not a big deal."

Still, the concern was clear. Watson was speaking to the media as Woods was still on the course when he asked if Woods was shooting under par. Told that he was 4 over at the time, Watson said, "That's not very good."

Woods still has two tournaments left before the end of Ryder Cup qualifying at the PGA Championship. He is No 72 in the standings, and aside from winning the final major of the year, his best bet is to be one of Watson's three picks.

Asked if he would be inclined to pick him if he were in Watson's position, Woods said with a smile, "I would say yes

"But that's my position, my take on it," Woods said. "He's the captain. Obviously, it's his decision. He's going to field the best 12 players that he thinks will win the cup back. And I hope I'm on that team."

Woods is unlikely to make the FedEx Cup playoffs unless he picks up top-3 finishes at Firestone and the PGA Championship, and that means Watson would have to judge him on those tournaments unless Woods was to play elsewhere. Europe is not appealing, with events in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Italy.

"It would make it tougher for me to pick him if he's not playing," Watson said.

Watson is more inclined to see more from Woods before a rush to judgment. Woods has played only six rounds since back surgery to alleviate a pinched nerve that forced him to miss three months, including two majors.

The scorecard showed two triple bogeys and three double bogeys. He said his return at Congressional three weeks ago, where he missed the cut by four shots, was at least a chance to make sure he was pain free and shake off some rust.

The rust was still there

"I was certainly expecting it, yes, but I just thought that I know how to play links golf," Woods said. "I know how to grind it on these golf courses, and hitting the shots I thought I could get around here. I did the first day. After a bad start I got it back. And unfortunately, as I said, I made too many mistakes with the doubles and triples."

He said he remained encouraged-the same word he used when missing the cut at Congressional-and even said he could see comparisons to these past two tournaments with a rehab assignment for a baseball player.

"There's a lot of things I need to work on, but I haven't been able to work a lot," Woods said.

"I was down for three months. So I'm just now starting to come back ... I'm still building. I'm still working on my game. And I'm getting stronger and faster."

Woods has missed only one Ryder Cup since his first in 1997. That was in 2008, when he missed the second half of the season with reconstructive knee surgery.