Tiger Woods told reporters in Turkey on Monday that he apologized to several of his Ryder Cup teammates for his inability to deliver more points during a U.S. defeat to Europe at Medinah Country Club.
Woods, who is playing in the eight-man Turkish Airlines World Golf Final, which begins Tuesday, revealed during a news conference that he sought out U.S. rookies Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker, Jason Dufner and Keegan Bradley after the American team squandered a 10-6 advantage and lost 14½ to 13½.
The top qualifier on the U.S. team, Woods went 0-3-1, and his Sunday singles match was all but rendered meaningless as the Europeans already had retained the Cup.
"I had an opportunity to earn three points in team sessions and didn't do that," Woods said. "My point (in the singles) didn't matter when all was said and done. Steve Stricker and I were sent out to win points and we didn't do it. That was frustrating.
"It has been difficult, there is no doubt. We held a great lead and couldn't manage to win from a perfect position going into Sunday. That was tough. Some guys were pretty bummed out by what happened. We had guys out early on Sunday to get points and that didn't happen. It was then left to us at the back, but it came down to the situation where my point didn't matter. It was a tough situation, no doubt."
Woods, 36, went 0-3 in team play with Stricker (0-4 overall) and saw his overall Ryder Cup record drop to 13-17-3.
And Woods, who has played on seven U.S. Ryder Cup teams, with just one victory, disputed the long-held notion that the Americans don't care enough about the Ryder Cup.
"That's because you weren't in the team room, you weren't on the team," said Woods, who is ranked No. 2 in the world. "It has been the same since I first played in 1997. That hasn't changed. We have always been a great team unit. No loss feels good, whether that is in a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup."
Woods is joined by Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan in the inaugural $5.2 million event. The format for the first two days is medal-match play, with Woods taking on McIlroy Wednesday.
The event is divided into two groups, with the top two points earners from each four-man group advancing to Thursday's semifinals.
As for the Ryder Cup, Woods said he hopes to be on several more teams, and would welcome being the U.S. captain one day.
"It would be a huge honor for me to be captain of a Ryder Cup team," he said. "Hopefully it will not happen in the near future because I would like to play on more teams, but certainly one day when my career is slowing down or over, it would be huge to be part of a Ryder Cup from the captaincy side of things."