Presidents Cup 2011: U.S. Advantage Proves Tiger Woods Is Irrelevant

Tiger Woods has yet to notch a single point at the 2011 Presidents Cup, yet the Americans own a 7-5 lead over the International team at Royal Melbourne.

What does that tell you?

Allow me to answer that question for you—that Tiger, as everyone already knew, is irrelevant in the golf world today.

To be fair, neither team has played particularly well in Australia so far. The 24 participants, among them some of the best golfers in the world, managed just 42 birdies and one eagle in 408 chances on Friday, thanks in large part to whipping winds that wrought havoc on the entire field.

But that hardly masks the fact that the U.S. is still ahead, despite Woods finishing the day 0-2 and winning just one hole out of 30. Woods has never performed particularly well in international team competitions, most notably in the Ryder Cup.

It would seem, then, that the International squad will need more than just a steely stare or two from Stevie Williams, Tiger's ex-caddie, to keep the Americans from coming out on top Down Under.

Of course, Tiger's demise in the sport isn't exactly breaking news. Woods has been in decline since 2008, when he defeated Rocco Mediate in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open while essentially hobbling around on one leg. The emergence of Woods' marital infidelity and the ensuing fallout threw his comeback into doubt and his personal life into a nationally televised downward spiral.

Not surprisingly, Tiger hasn't won a single event since.

And while he doesn't figure to win much of anything at this year's Presidents Cup, Woods' failures won't likely deter the Yanks from claiming their fourth piece of hardware in a row, adding yet another exhibit to the rather extensive case file to prove that Tiger, at least as a pure golfer, doesn't matter anymore.