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| Sunday, July 15, 2007 |
Tiger Woods is known for his dominance of the Masters but AP golf writer Doug Ferguson thinks the British Open actually best showcases his unique combination of skills.
 Tiger Woods never posted any of Harry Vardon’s feats on his bedroom door. His career has always been about Jack Nicklaus and that benchmark of 18 professional majors, and Woods has made incredible strides in his first decade on the PGA Tour. He captured the career Grand Slam at age 24, two years sooner than Nicklaus. He won back-to-back titles at the Masters, and one-third of his majors have come from Augusta National, just like Jack.
But along with a closet full of green jackets, Woods is starting to assemble quite a collection of claret jugs. He heads to Carnoustie for the 136th British Open with a chance to become the first player since Peter Thomson in 1954-56 to win golf’s oldest championship three straight times. If he’s successful, that would give him as many jugs as jackets.
Nicklaus and Vardon share the record for most titles (6) in a single major. For all the fixation over Woods and Augusta National, his presence at the British Open has become equally daunting. Could he reach Vardon’s record at the British Open before Nicklaus’ mark at the Masters? Is it possible his dominance lies more on the linksland than amid the azaleas? “I will say this: The British Open Championship is my favorite major,” Woods said. “I just love the history, tradition and atmosphere. You need patience and imagination to play well.”
Thomson has watched Woods develop a game suited for links golf and wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he goes on a dominant run. “He’ll have a run for 10 or 15 years during which he’ll win at least half of them, maybe a few more,” Thomson said from his home in St. Andrews. “I’m assuming he goes about it in the way he does now. There’s never been any golfer, maybe even a tennis player, who applied himself in such a way that Tiger has.”
Nick Faldo, who won the Masters and British Open three times each, helped Woods into his first green jacket in 1997 and always figured that would be his domain. Now, he’s not so sure. “That’s a tough one,” Faldo said. “You’ve got to believe that everything about him is set up perfectly for Augusta. But he has this great ability now to adapt, as he did at Hoylake, where strategy golf came in.”
Augusta National has added nearly 500 yards since Woods won his first green jacket by a record 12 shots. And with improved technology, from drivers to shafts to golf balls, Woods no longer has exclusive rights to power.
The British Open has always been more about brains than brawn, the often overlooked strength of the world’s No. 1 player. After twice winning at St. Andrews by either hitting it over or around the bunkers, Woods arrived at Royal Liverpool last year to find the grass brown and crusty, the fairways running faster than some greens. After a few practice rounds, he decided his best option was to leave driver in the bag and navigate his way around the course with his irons. It proved to be a brilliant strategy, and he went on to a two-stroke victory.
“The majority of golfers really don’t relish playing a course like Carnoustie, Hoylake, Lytham & St. Annes,” Thomson said. “They’re not comfortable playing that kind of golf. Tiger is. I remember seeing him play at Lytham as an amateur, and he didn’t look like he belonged there. It was a complete mystery to him. But it didn’t take him long to get the hang of it. He’s such a brain, and he has studied it very well. That’s what the Open championship courses demand.”
Regardless, Woods is an amazing golfer who can dominate any course.
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| Tuesday, June 19, 2007 |
Tiger Woods announced the birth of a baby girl, Sam Alexis Woods on his website. Both Mom and Daughter are doing well and resting peacefully. Congratulations to Tiger, Elin, and their family.
I think Michelle Wie’s days are numbered. haha
The US Open finishes today-
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) – Aaron Baddeley teetered on the edge of a collapse, staring at bogeys on the golf course and Tiger Woods’ name high on the leaderboard.
He showed he might be up to the challenge.
Baddeley escaped with an amazing par from deep rough at the base of a bunker on the 17th hole, finished strong with a birdie for an even-par 70 and wound up with a two-shot lead over Woods after three rounds of the U.S. Open on Saturday.
The Australian kid who was beating world-class players as an amateur now faces the biggest test of his career.
Woods was nearly perfect from tee-to-green, hitting every green in regulation until he had to lay up from the rough on the 18th hole and took his only bogey for a 69, one of only two rounds under par even though Oakmont’s fearsome greens showed a softer side.
Woods, who has never won a major when trailing going into the final round, will be playing in the last group at a major for the second time this year. He was one shot behind at the Masters and tied for second.
“I’ve been there before, and I know what it takes,” Woods said.
Paul Casey shot a 72 and was at 5-over 215 with Stephen Ames (73), Justin Rose (73) and Bubba Watson (75), who made a triple bogey from the left side of the ninth green but steadied himself with pars and a lone bogey the rest of the way.
*****
Still, a dozen players were separated by five shots going into the final round on a course that is tough even when the USGA wants it to play slightly easier.
“This golf course doesn’t lend itself to too many birdies,” Ames said. “So the guy who makes the least mistakes will be the guy to win.”
Baddeley is a good golfer but never been in this spot before. He has two tour titles, Tiger has two US Open victories. If Tiger were to win today, he’d join Hale Irwin(1974, 79, 90) as the only other three-time US Champ. The group of two-time winners is large. Retief Goosen was tied for the lead going into the 2005 US Open final round before blowing up. Hale Irwin did similarly at the 84 Open when having a chance for his third.
You can’t bet against Tiger. If anyone were to sneak up from behind, I’d put my money on Jim Furyk, the 2003 Champ and a runnerup last year.
It was a wild and crazy day at Augusta National yesterday.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Tiger Woods getting into the final group at the Masters made it feel like a typical Saturday at Augusta National. Nothing else did.
Not Woods finishing bogey-bogey, only to charge up the leaderboard while on the practice range. Not a scoreboard that showed no survivors to par for the first time in history. And certainly not a wind chill factor that never climbed higher than 47 degrees.
*****
Stuart Appleby emerged as the leader despite a triple bogey on the 17th hole with a tee shot into the bunker guarding the seventh green, a wedge into a bunker on the hole he was playing and three putts. Compared with other train wrecks, that was tame.
He wound up with a 1-over 73 and in the final group with a familiar name, who got there in the strangest fashion. Those two bogeys gave Woods a 72, the first time in 11 trips to Augusta National as a pro that he has played three rounds without breaking par.
*****
There was plenty on Saturday, the highest-scoring third round since 1956. The average score was 77.35, the highest day at Augusta National since it switched to Bentgrass greens in 1981. That’s assuming it was grass — and not glass — on those greens.
Retief Goosen was the only player to break par, a 70 that moved him from last place into a tie for eighth. A dozen players failed to break 80. That included U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, who was in the top 10 and making a charge until he twice hit wedge into the water on the 15th for a quadruple-bogey 9. He followed that with three straight bogeys for an 81.
*****
Appleby was at 2-over 218, the highest 54-hole lead ever at the Masters. He had a simple explanation for his triple bogey, and he might as well have been speaking for everyone.
*****
Woods has never lost a major when playing in the final group, although he has always had at least a share of the lead. History is on his side, too. The winner at the Masters has come out of the final group every year since Nick Faldo won in 1990.
Augusta National 2007 is not the usual way this course plays. That makes it difficult to predict what will happen today. Post a low score early and wait for everyone to fall apart on the back nine could end up a winning strategy.
Then you can’t really bet against Woods. He’s won the Masters four times in ten years. Much has been made of Woods never coming from behind to win a major. Then Tiger has never been one shot out of the lead with 18 holes to go in a major.
I’m not going to jinx my longshot pick to win this week by hyping his chances. A week ago I felt certain someone who I also picked to win, was going to win the Kraft Nabisco. This weekend I know nothing.(Apologies to Sgt. Schultz)
Interesting bit of Masters trivia, that could apply today. The tournament has had a history of players witnessing famous final rounds, and a few years later that witness winning the Masters themselves. Here’s a rundown.
1960- Arnold Palmer birdies the last two holes to win his 2nd Masters title.
Palmer’s playing partner- Billy Casper the 1970 Masters champ.
1966- Nicklaus wins a 3-way 18 hole playoff becoming the first golfer to win back to back Masters.
One of the two other golfers in the playoff- Gay Brewer the 1967 Masters Champ.
1968- Roberto DeVicenzo loses the Masters by one shot after signing an incorrect score card on Sunday.
DeVicenzo’s Sunday playing partner? Tommy Aaron the 1973 Masters Champ.
1975- Jack Nicklaus wins his fifth Masters in an exciting duel with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. The 75 Masters is sometimes called the greatest Masters ever played.
Nicklaus’ playing partner? Tom Watson, the 1977 and 1981 Masters Champ.
1978- Gary Player shoots a final round 64 to win his 3rd Masters.
Player’s playing partner- Severiano Ballesteros, the 1980 and 1983 Masters Champ.
1979- ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ Ed Sneed loses the Masters after taking a six shot lead into Sunday and a three shot lead with three holes to go. Sneed’s collapse that led to Fuzzy Zoeller winning is one of the most infamous Sunday finishes at Augusta.
Sneed’s playing partner- Craig Stadler, the 1982 Masters Champ
1984- Ben Crenshaw, one of the most popular players on tour, wins the 1st of his two Masters titles.
Crenshaw’s playing partner- Nick Faldo the 1989, 90 and 96 Masters Champ.
1986- Jack Nicklaus comes from behind to win his 6th Masters title.
Nicklaus playing partner- Sandy Lyle the 1988 Masters champ.
If we use this system, Retief Goosen(who played with Tiger on Sunday in 2002 when Woods became only the third person to win back to back Masters) would be the winner.
The tee times haved been moved up in order to complete play today. CBS has been tempting the Golf Gods for some years, having the Masters end around 7 p.m. leaving little time for a playoff. The network has been lucky so far, no playoff at the tournament has gone more than two holes since 1979.
The first major of the 2007 PGA Tour season has already teed it up this morning.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Time to muster Arnie’s Army again, this time for a very short walk.
Arnold Palmer, the four-time Masters champion who played for the 50th and final time three years ago, will hit the opening tee shot Thursday and become the seventh honorary starter in tournament history.
“The time has come,” Palmer said Tuesday. “I think all of you know what Augusta means to me.”
Arnold retired from competitive golf less than a year ago. Wouldn’t it be great if Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus would join Arnie as ceremonial starters?
The early leader is another former Masters Champ, Ben Crenshaw.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Ben Crenshaw woke up early and turned back the clock Thursday, taking the early Masters lead on a super-sized course that was supposed to leave oldtimers like him far behind.
The 55-year-old, two-time champion played shots he probably never would have imagined when he last won at Augusta in 1995 — an emotional week he devoted to his longtime teacher, Harvey Penick, who had died shortly before the tournament.
Gentle Ben used a 5-wood for his second shot on the 455-yard first hole, but got the ball to the green and safely two-putted.
He used the traditional three shots to reach the par-5 second — normally a two-shot hole for the big hitters — and waited nearly 10 minutes to putt, after Davis Love III and John Kelly batted it around the green for a while.
But Crenshaw made that putt for birdie, then made par on the next two holes and was at 1-under par after four.
I wouldn’t be taking Ben to the bank yet. As long-time CBS golf analyst Ken Venturi used to say, “The Masters doesn’t truly begin till the 10th tee on Sunday afternoon.” It is fair to say we are a long way from knowing the winner.
ESPN ranks the 97 players in this field. Anyone want to guess who is #1?
1. Tiger Woods
Win What, like you expected to see anyone else atop this list? On the 10-year anniversary of his historic 12-shot victory, Woods enters firing on all cylinders, just two weeks removed from lulling the field to sleep at Doral. Sure, the putter’s been a tad balky recently, but that was likely shored up during practice rounds, as the official March to History continues this week. Another green jacket gives Tiger five, leaving him one behind Jack Nicklaus, and ups his major championship total to 13, in clear view of the all-time lead.
No surprise there. The rest of ESPN’s top 10 picks are in order- Phil Mickelson, Paul Casey, Davis Love III, Vijay Singh, Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Charles Howell III, Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk.
I truthfully think ESPN has Davis Love way too high and Furyk way too low.
 If I were to take a longshot, it is this player:
30. Stuart Appleby T-19 The good news: Appleby finally cracked the top 20 for the first time at this event in 2006. The bad news: It took him 10 years to do so.
Appleby has never done well at Augusta but he is a good putter and is coming off a 2nd place finish last weekend.
We’ll know early Sunday evening who wins the Green Jacket.
The player nicknamed El Nino acted like one yesterday.
DORAL – Sergio Garcia confirmed his unusual hole-in-one at the 13th hole Saturday at the CA Championship at Doral.
Unhappy with his bogey there, he retrieved his ball and then spit into the cup.
NBC reported that viewers called to complain.
Garcia didn’t deny it.
“I did, I’m not going to say no,” Garcia told NBC. “It went down in the middle. It wasn’t going to affect anybody else.
“I just missed the putt and wasn’t very happy.”
*****
Geoff Ogilvy played in the twosome behind Garcia but wasn’t aware the cup had been lubricated.
“I didn’t lick my fingers anyway after I played that hole,” Ogilvy said. “And I wash my hands before I eat.”
Ogilvy didn’t like the idea another player had spit into the cup.
“It’s probably not the right way to play,” Ogilvy said.
Garcia’s behavior is inexcusable. He should be fined at the very least. Then the PGA Tour and USGA did nothing when Tiger Woods intentionally defaced a green at the 2005 US Open. I expect the same in Garcia’s case.
Four hours television coverage of a non-major championship is overkill. Tiger is winning by four with three holes to go.
The Palm Beach Post’s Dave George writes about the PGA Tour’s identity crisis since it became a World Golf Championship event.
The field may be better at Doral this year, but what about the feel?
It’s a question of the heart, not the mind. The Blue Monster course is a South Florida classic.
Likewise, the tournament that Billy Casper first won here in 1962 was never defined by its numerous title sponsors, but by a list of monstrous multiple champions that runs through Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman and Raymond Floyd and winds up, eventually, like all others, with Tiger Woods.
Doral had a distinct identity, in other words, that for decades has overmatched so many other PGA Tour events, including our own Honda Classic.
And now, this week, comes the unsettling whiff of identity theft, as Doral becomes the WGC-CA Championship, as Miami’s specialty becomes a global curiosity.
Please don’t misunderstand. Tiger, the two-time defending champion, is here, so that pretty much takes care of any attendance questions other than how many fans can the course and the parking lots physically accommodate.
Every other player with a Thursday tee time is absolutely worth watching, too, and capable of winning. Silly to think otherwise when 49 of the world’s top 50 ranked stars are present.
The problem, if there is one, involves tampering with one of the most consistently successful stories in South Florida sports.
How, for instance, is it possible to improve on “The Duel at Doral” from two years ago, when Tiger and Phil Mickelson played in the final Sunday group and Vijay Singh was in contention, too?
Tiger birdied from 30 feet on No. 17 to take the lead and Lefty lipped out a chip shot on the finishing hole that could have forced a playoff. That was more than globally significant. Try galactic.
“It was almost like a major championship,” Johnny Miller said.
And how about last year’s finish, with nine of the world’s top 10 golfers at Doral and a crowd-pleasing Colombian named Camilo Villegas pushing Tiger to the final putt?
Villegas, a playoff participant at the Honda two weeks ago, isn’t at Doral because he doesn’t have the world points or the PGA Tour money to rate a spot.
He doesn’t have the points, but Villegas clearly has the pizazz.
*****
There always was a buzz, however, with familiar characters like Doug Sanders and Lee Trevino and Andy Bean on championship runs, and a genuine appreciation for the steady career accomplishments of other former Doral winners, like Nick Faldo and Tom Kite and Jim Furyk and Ernie Els.
Yes, I think the world of Doral, and maybe that’s the real issue here.
Giving this South Florida gem over to the world, for a little while or forever, is just a little too foreign a concept for me.
Doral hasn’t changed to me. The field is smaller, but the course defines the tournament in my opinion. Forty five years of history isn’t wiped out because the sponsor changes. Tournament sponsors come and go, and so will WGC(And the much ballyhooed Fedex Cup) one day also. Doral will still be a part of the tour and its history. I’m betting the tournament will be back to regular event status within five years.
Feel free to remind me if I’m wrong.
Some golfers aren’t happy with the new PGA Tour stop being sponsored by Tiger Woods. Yesterday Tiger defended himself and the limited field event.
ORLANDO — Despite criticism from other players last week, Tiger Woods said Wednesday it’s his preference to have a limited field for the PGA Tour event he will host in Washington this summer.
Woods’ event, called the AT&T National, drew staunch criticism from professionals Rich Beem, Brad Faxon and Glen Day last week after PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said the tournament might not have a full field.
The AT&T National is replacing a full-field event, The International, which folded this year.
“Field size is still up in the air. It’s not finalized yet. But we are certainly looking at a reduced field,” Woods said on the eve of today’s start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. “We’re trying to put on the best possible field and best possible tournament we possibly can, and I think ultimately that’s what we’ve decided on.”
Woods’ opinion matters here. This is going to be his tournament that he hosts on the PGA Tour, just like Palmer hosts this week’s event and Jack Nicklaus hosts The Memorial in May. The National’s primary charity is the Tiger Woods Foundation.
Woods said he prefers his event, which will honor the military – Woods’ late father, Earl, was a Green Beret – be treated like the other invitationals that have fields closer to 120 than a full-field 156.
He says pace-of-play and logistical issues are his reasons for fewer players.
“I just think that when we get enormous field sizes like we do 156, sometimes you have a hard time finishing,” Woods said. “If you have any kind of weather delays, you’re definitely not finishing. Ultimately, a lot depends on the sponsors, what they want. This Tour is driven by the sponsors and TV, and that’s what drives our Tour.”
Woods is sponsoring the tournament, therefore he can set the field. Have Faxon, Beem or Gay protested against Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Classic or the Colonial Invitational. What we have is spoiled players(The tour exempts the top 125 money winners, which I’ve grown to conclude is way too many) who should probably not be even playing any more unhappy because they are out of the party. Play better better guys, then you can play all the tournaments you want. If not, stop whining, and preferably find some honest work while you’re at it also.
The hole in the pro golf schedule caused by the cancellation of The International seems to have been filled.
The PGA Tour is returning to the nation’s capital during the Fourth of July, backed by the biggest name in golf. The Tiger Woods Foundation will be the host organization of the new PGA Tour event in the Washington, D.C., area. Woods’ foundation will be the primary beneficiary of charitable proceeds.
It was not certain that Woods will play in the Washington tournament this year because his wife is expecting their first child in early July. But it is likely the world’s No. 1 player will be a regular in Washington, the first that his foundation has organized.
Also to be announced is a title sponsor and where the tournament will be played from July 5-8. Woods and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem are to provide more details March 7 at a press conference in Washington.
What course the tournament will be played on is a big detail and unknown. TPC at Avenel, the old host to the PGA Tour stop in DC, is being renovated and is currently unavailable.
I’m betting Tiger doesn’t play because of Elin’s pregnancy.
Craig Dolch at the Palm Beach Post wrote-
In 2000, there were 19 foreign-born players on the PGA Tour. This season, there are 24 Australians alone.
Want more proof of how international the Tour has become? This year’s Masters, for the first time, will have more foreign players than Americans.
International invasion
Foreign players have steadily increased in number on the PGA Tour this decade:
Year Number
2000 19
2001 48
2002 56
2003 60
2004 71
2005 78
2006 75
2007 76
Source: PGA Tour
More golf
Honda Classic coverage
“That’s an unbelievable stat, for sure,” said one of the foreign players, England’s Justin Rose. “Golf is a growing sport in Europe, and our presence over here is only going to get stronger and stronger.”
The Honda Classic reflects this global shift, with its past two winners non-Americans: England’s Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington of Ireland. That’s quite a change from watching the first 21 Hondas won by U.S. players. Zimbabwe’s Nick Price, now a Jupiter Island resident, ended that streak when he won the 1994 Honda at Weston Hills. Since, six of the past 13 Honda winners have been international players.
So why did the PGA Tour go from being comprised mostly by Americans to a melting pot? Most players say it comes down to two words: world rankings.
In the late 1990s, the PGA Tour started using the world rankings to set the fields for the three lucrative World Golf Championships. This gave foreign players an easier way in to those events, and the prize money that comes with them.
Then, the four major championships soon added world rankings to their entry criteria – anyone in the top 50 gets in. By playing in only those seven tournaments, international players could earn enough money to gain their Tour card and full access to the rest of the events on the PGA Tour.
The money and ease of jet travel have been here for years, so I think the World Golf Championships are part if not most of the cause for more foreign players in the US. Also there are more players like Luke Donald or Carl Pettersson who played college golf in the states. I think that has to have changed the equation also.
In the past players like Greg Norman, David Graham, Bruce Crampton and Bruce Devlin turned pro in Australia and eventually came to the US to play. Australians have been playing the US or European golf circuits for fifty years. Look at five time British Open Champ Peter Thomson. With the exception of Thomson,(Note Thomson only won one US non-senior title in limited play.) career on the seniors tour was suce these Australians were all very sucessful in the US and lived here also at least on a part-time basis.
While the PGA tour is diverse in Europeans and Australians, there is black hole when it comes to players of color. Other than Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, KJ Choi and Shigeki Maruyama, there are few proven Asian golfers on tour and no blacks on tour.(None that I know of, unless any made it through the last Q school) The LPGA on the other hand features over 40 South Korean players alone but has no blacks either. Are the pro golf tours really diverse?
I think we can still safely say golf is still a game for white men.
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