Tom Watson will decide on making injured Tiger Woods a captain's pick for the US Ryder Cup team largely on trusting the 14-time major winner to evaluate himself.
The 64-year-old leader of the American squad that will try to recapture the trophy from Europe in six weeks at Gleneagles, Scotland, said on Monday that he will rely upon Woods to admit if his nagging back injury is too painful for him to participate in the biennial match-play event.
"I think it really directly comes from Tiger, how he assesses himself," Watson said.
"The main thing is I can't really assess his medical condition and I honestly can't assess how he's playing. It really is going to be having to come from information from Tiger himself."
So can Watson trust such a source, who has admitted he dearly wants to play on the US side?
"Absolutely," Watson said.
"I trust Tiger to give me the straight skinny. I trust him inherently."
Woods, who has not won a major since the 2008 US Open, withdrew from a World Golf Championships event eight days ago with back pain and battled through it again in the second round of the PGA Championship last Friday before missing the cut.
Woods said the injury is unrelated to back surgery in March that sidelined him for nearly four months, but that doesn't mean it will heal in time for Gleneagles.
"I will continue to speak with Tiger over the next three weeks to monitor his situation," Watson said.
"Obviously he has not been playing well, but I think it has been a result of his injury and his coming back from back surgery."
Watson says he would give Woods a captain's pick if he were healthy and playing well but even though he is neither, Watson said he would "be a fool not to consider him".
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