Darren Clarke has said that he expects Tiger Woods will be back once he has had time to adapt his swing.
Woods announced this week that he is taking a break from golf in order to improve his form.
"Tiger's been the best player in the world for a long, long time and he's trying to change his swing again through injuries and he's having to adapt," Clarke told Sky Sports News.
"Those injuries can take a little bit of time to go away and working on his swing is the same sort of thing, so he just needs a little bit of time, that's all.
"You can get down, it's quite easy to do, as it's a pretty tough job out there at times. Whenever you're trying to perform and you don't do it, it's particularly frustrating. But his talent is beyond question so I have no doubt he'll be back again."
Clarke admitted this week that he wants to be Team Europe's Ryder Cup captain in 2016.
