SPECTATORS cheered yesterday as TigerWoods did as he promised and gave Darren Clarke a big hug.
Clarke, whose wife Heather died last month after a four-year battle with cancer, was walking from the ninth to the 10th tee at the K Club when Woods, whose father Earl passed away earlier this year, spotted him from the practice range and went over.
It was a public show of affection in front of a crowd of several thousand from two friends who are on the opposite sides of this week's Ryder Cup.
Woods, meanwhile, was embarrassed in front of his team-mates after a spot of high jinks the night before. Each member of the US team was called on by captain Tom Lehman to sing their school song and Woods tried to sneak away. There was no escape.
Scott Verplank said: "When we all got back to the team room we put him on the spot and made him do it."
In a Simon Cowell-like assessment, Verplank said Woods should not be thinking about giving up his day job. "He wasn't good and he didn't like doing it. I wouldn't recommend he goes to a recording studio but everybody had a good laugh."
The Americans are underdogs for the first time, but this shows they have created a strong team spirit.
Verplank, a wild-card selection, noted that Woods had been making much more of an effort to be sociable than in the past.
"He's kind of buying into this having 11 buddies for a week instead of just 'me against the world', " added Verplank.
"I could see how it's hard for him to let down some of his guards and fall under somebody else's schedule or plan, but I think he understands that to play well in this event that's what he has to do."
Two years ago at Oakland Hills, Woods went out early and practised on his own. Yesterday he was out, as instructed by Lehman, with Jim Furyk, Verplank and debutant Brett Wetterich.
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