Tiger Woods is not guaranteed a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team and will have to play his way on like every other player, according to team skipper Corey Pavin.

Woods, who took five months out of the game after his private life unraveled at the end of 2009 and has suffered neck problems since his return, is currently 11th in the U.S. Ryder Cup points race.

Only eight players will automatically qualify for the American team's showdown with Europe in October in Wales, while Pavin will have four other picks.

"I'm not going to treat Tiger any differently than any other player," Pavin said. "He's certainly not going to be an automatic pick.

"He's just going to be treated like everyone else. I'd love to have him on the team but I want him to be playing well," added Pavin, who said he had not spoken to Woods this year.

Woods has a relatively poor Ryder 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.