Tiger Woods will have more to deal with than just plotting the European team’s downfall at this week’s Ryder Cup, as one of the United States’ team’s assistant captains.

He’ll also be forced to revisit and replay (in his mind, at least) a scene that brought little joy and multiple bouts of frustration to one of the world’s greatest ever players.

Hazeltine National Golf Club remains one of the few courses that suited Woods’ game yet one he never truly conquered, and while he’ll certainly have invaluable insights to offer his country’s 12 selected players this week, he’ll also be forced to ponder what might have been.

Woods’ first visit to the Minnesota course was for the 2002 PGA Championship, when despite piling on the pressure with four consecutive birdies to end his tournament, Woods was upstaged by a single stroke as Rich Beem produced the only decent major performance of his career to deny him.

But the Hazeltine memory that must really sting is the 2009 PGA, which became the first and only time that Woods held a 54-hole lead at a major and didn’t go on to win. And again it was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him blip on the PGA Tour radar who ruined Woods’ day, as Y.E. Yang shot a 70 to Woods’ uncharacteristically wayward final day 75 to eclipse him by two strokes.

Hazeltine's 642-yard par-5, 6th hole (which normally plays as the 15th hole) will be a crucial hole to win. PHOTO: David Cannon/Getty Images.

Clearly, Hazeltine is a theatre with a habit of delivering the kind of high drama worthy of major event status. Now couple that with the Ryder Cup, where the significance and pressure on every shot and moment are magnified exponentially, and we’re all but guaranteed one hell of a ride.

If you ask the United States team, those moments are likely to happen on the par fives. The home team admitted this month that miserable performances on par fives were the primary reason behind its defeats at recent Cups, so you can count on them being dialed in for the course’s longest holes.