Golf: The Ryder Cup - Danger: Tigertime zone straight ahead

In Tiger Woods the American team possesses the hottest property in golf. Woods is making his debut in the Ryder Cup, but, as his amateur career showed, the head-to-head version of the game perfectly suits his aggressive style and flair for the dramatic.

Few people in sport, let alone golf, have the ability to make something out of nothing quite like Seve Ballesteros. Five major titles, five World Match Play crowns and a distinguished Ryder Cup career atest to that. Among jewels was his 1983 encounter with Arnold Palmer at Wentworth. One down and in trouble at the last, Ballesteros pitched in from 50 yards off the green to force a play-off, which, naturally, he won.

As non-playing captain, Ballesteros will not be able to conjure such magic at Valderrama this week. But in Tiger Woods, the American team have someone who certainly can.

His aggressive style can be even more devastating in matchplay than usual, with an errant shot only costing one hole rather than the double, triple and quadruple bogeys that have besmirched his scorecards in the majors since his stunning US Masters victory. So much has happened to golf, as well as to the 21-year-old phenomenon in the last year, that it hardly seems possible that on 25 August, 1996, Woods was still an amateur golfer.

That was the day Woods won his third US Amateur Championship. A few hours later, guided as ever by his father Earl, Woods signed his first contracts with Mark McCormack's International Management Group and then with Nike; the latter for the little matter of $40m (pounds 25m).

Woods, two years into a degree at Stanford University, had faced intense scrutiny about his future plans, but everything was on hold pending an attempt to become the first player to win three US Amateurs in a row at Pumpkin Ridge, near Portland, Oregon. Phil Knight, the CEO of Nike whose headquarters are only 20 minutes away, was a conspicuous member of Woods' gallery all week.

By the day of the 36-hole final, against the Florida student Steve Scott, that gallery was greater than many US Amateurs have attracted for an entire week. NBC decided to show the final live on network television and its coverage attracted over double the audience of the World Series, where Phil Mickelson played Greg Norman. Players in the locker-room there, and at the Greater Vancouver Open, were tuned into Tigertime.

What made the event essential viewing was not the occasion's wider significance, but what Woods actually did. In rallying from being five down after 11 holes, and from two down with three to play, Woods once more confirmed his pedigree as a true champion.

Such amateur dramatics were routine for Woods as he won six USGA national titles in a row. From 1991 to '93 he won three US Junior Amateurs, the third by achieving birdies at the last two holes to square the match, getting up and down from a bunker at the 18th, and then winning at the first extra hole.

When he became, at 18, the youngest winner of the US Amateur in history, Woods was six down to Trip Kuehne after 13 holes in the final. Kuehne had made birdies at seven of those holes on the Sawgrass course which annually stages The Players' Championship, but could not keep up his superb golf.

After lunch, Woods won three holes in a row to be one down with seven to play, but at the 32nd and 33rd he drove into the trees and scrambled brilliantly for two halves in par. At the 34th, he got up and down from 60 yards for a birdie four to draw level and, at the next, Sawgrass's treacherous par-three to an island green, his tee shot spun back off the back fringe to 14 feet. Naturally, he holed the putt and a par at the last confirmed the best comeback in the history of the event.

A year later, at Newport, Rhode Island, Woods was down three holes early on against Buddy Marucci, but holed a curling 20-footer to go two up at the 33rd. He needed the cushion for he lost the next, but, at the last, Woods hit his eight-iron directly over the flag. The ball landed 15 feet past the hole and spun back stiff. Bye, bye, Buddy.

So to Pumpkin Ridge. Woods hit only three fairways and four greens on the front nine against Scott. His estimated morning round was a 76. Woods missed the green at the first hole of the afternoon, but that was the last he missed. After birdies at the 21st and 22nd, he won the 24th and the 27th to get back to one down. But Scott chipped in to win the next and, after a roller-coaster ride, went back to two up at the 32nd.

At the 34th, Woods had a six-foot putt for a birdie, but Scott had to remind him to replace his marker after Woods had moved it away from his opponent's line. Without Scott's act of generosity, Woods would have been penalised the hole and lost the match. Of course, Woods holed the putt to go one down.

Now the atmosphere was wild, and it got even more so when Woods holed a 30-foot downhill birdie putt at the next. The fist-pumping celebration that followed has become his trademark. The last hole of regulation and the first of the play-off were halved, before a par at the 38th, Scott having lipped out, gave Woods victory. Scott offered his hand in congratulation, but Woods was buried in embraces by his mother, father and entourage.

By winning 20 and losing only two of his matches in five US Amateurs, Woods' record is the best of all time, beating even Bobby Jones (W43, L8) and Jack Nicklaus (W24, L5). In all USGA matchplay events, Woods lost only three times.

In his only experience of team matchplay events, at the 1995 Walker Cup which America lost at Royal Porthcawl, Woods showed that hitting the ball 100 yards past his opponent could not guarantee victory as he lost to Gary Wolstenholme on the first day. Overall, his record for the week was a less than inspired won two, lost two.

"That was a little different level to which he will experience now," Mark O'Meara said of Woods' amateur success. "His intimidation factor was quite a bit higher in amateur golf than it is in professional golf." Woods' game has developed too, though, and his flair for the dramatic will prove dangerous as he makes his Ryder Cup debut. "He loves the challenge, he's young, he's hungry and he is a competitor," added O'Meara.

"I have always preferred matchplay over medal play," Woods said after his first official practice round as a Ryder Cup player yesterday. "It's one-on-one and you don't get the chance to do that very often.

"There is more emotion involved. You can ride the wave of momentum, or get stomped on. I think it is great. It takes more courage to play matchplay than strokeplay. In strokeplay it is all down to the last nine holes on Sunday. In matchplay, it starts on the first tee."