Tiger Woods finished in the top five at the US Open

Tiger Woods will make the United States Ryder Cup team on merit after a recent improvement in form, according to team captain Corey Pavin.

He says Woods is seventh in the points race with eight players guaranteed a place and four more captain's picks.

"I'm not concerned about whether he'll make the team on points - it'll be fantastic, I want him on the team," Pavin told the BBC.

The US and Europe face each other at Celtic Manor in October.

Woods returned to competitive golf in April after several months off following revelations about his extra-marital affairs.

Initially he struggled to make an impact, but his form has begun to improve and he finished only three shots off the lead at the US Open.

"He's the number-one player in the world. There's something wrong with you if you don't want him on the team," said Pavin.

"I want him to be playing well. He's finished in the top five in the last two major championships and he's put himself on the team right now - as it stands he's seventh on the list.

"I expect him to go up on that list and improve his position and he'll make the team no problem."

But Woods' private life remains a source of fascination - a British tabloid story suggesting he had agreed a £500m ($750m) divorce settlement was rapidly picked up by websites and newspaper across the world on Wednesday.

Woods told the AFP news agency in the build-up to this week's AT&T National tournament that there were "certainly still distractions" in his life away from golf.

But he added: "I think my life out on tour is becoming more normalised, talking to you guys [the media] about why I haven't won a tournament this year or why I hit this shot or that shot.

"It certainly wasn't like that at the beginning of the year but now that certainly has changed, and for the good."

Despite his major wins, Woods has not enjoyed the best of fortunes at the Ryder Cup with a record of 10 wins, 13 losses and two halves from five events.

He has been on the winning team only once, in 1999, and was absent recovering from knee surgery when the Americans ended a nine-year drought by winning the event in 2008.

The biennial encounter takes place between 1 and 3 October.

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