2010 Ryder Cup: What Tiger Woods Must Do To Make The U.S. Team

While many questions surround Tiger Woods and his participation in the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, there are a few things we know as fact:

• Woods has one more tournament, the PGA Championship this week at Whistling Straits, to work his way in to the top eight of the Ryder Cup standings.
  
• Two players have locked up spots on the U.S. team: Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan, who won the Bridgestone Classic this past weekend.
• If he doesn't play his way on the team, Woods can be chosen for one of two spots by team captain Corey Pavin. (The two reportedly will meet this week at Whistling Straits.)
  
• Woods will have to finish at least among the top 16 players at the PGA Championship in order to earn a spot.
  

The Orlando Sentinel, thankfully, crunched the numbers for us on that last fact. Here's what their calculators told them:

That’s merely to catch Lucas Glover for the No. 8 position – not factoring in what Glover may do at Whistling Straits, or anyone else behind him in the Ryder Cup standings.

Not overly daunting – but not exactly a cinch, either. Not the way things have gone lately. Consider that Woods hasn’t been able to muster a top-16 finish in any of his past three outings.

So Woods has to hope for that top-16 finish, while also hoping some folks in his way play ... well, play like Woods has played over the last three tournaments. During that stretch, his average finish is 49th.