Although Fasth, again getting up and down from a bunker, pulled one back at the 17th, Duval’s four at the last slammed the door on the Swedes who were defeated by one hole.. What has happened to Tiger? Not his golf, I mean, which was back in shape yesterday morning and produced a second successive victory on a long and sultry afternoon at The Belfry. No, I am talking about his spirit, his competitive instinct which, whether he likes it or not, is routinely revealed in the spotlight of the Ryder Cup. Maybe winning too much is the cause, but standing on the 10th hole yesterday, brandishing nothing more threatening than a seven iron, he must have felt like the gunslinger whose pistol has jammed.There has been talk of it all year.

Tiger no longer wins majors; he waits for others to lose them. That they do so with depressing frequency is not Tiger’s fault, but in matchplay golf at the Ryder Cup, waiting for others to lose means only one thing: a record of played 14, won five, lost eight and one half. Not poor, just poor for a man who wins, on average, every other major.Woods is no lover of the Ryder Cup. He has made that quite clear in word and deed over the past few days. A citizen of the world has no place in the midst of such partisanship. But when the 10th hove into view yesterday afternoon, there came one of those moments which define a state of mind.In the context of an enthralling match, it was just another hole, one of the two best on a generally mundane course. Woods and Davis Love, his playing partner for both foursomes and fourballs, were level at the turn with Sergio Garcia (always Garcia) and Lee Westwood, the backbone pairing of the European team.

Only two holes in the opening nine holes had not featured a birdie; both pairs carded a better-ball total of 32. There was some decent golf being played.The 10th, which forces players to risk a drenching for the pleasure of reaching the green, has become a psychological cause c?bre in recent days, ever since Sam Torrance, as is his right as the home captain, asked for the tee to be moved back in order to negate the power of the longer-hitting US team. Rick Reilly, a distinguished American columnist, heavily criticised Torrance for his cowardice “I knew Scots didn’t do tans and tips,” he wrote. “I had no idea they didn’t do drama.” But Sam knew what he was doing. He was tilting the odds not against the brave golfer, as Reilly suggested, but against the innate conservatism of the American touring pro There is a subtle difference. No golfer wedded to the calculator would risk overhanging branches and a retreating target. But Sergio Garcia has never been much of a respecter of percentages.Brought up as the keeper of Seve’s spirit, the challenge of the 10th had now become an extreme sport, worthy of a pump of adrenalin and absolutely crying out for conquest.