Thursday, May 31, 2001
Woods happy for his former roomie, Casey
Martin
By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Writer
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — Tiger Woods knows better than most what
Casey Martin feels as he struggles to walk a golf course. He watched
as Martin dealt with his pain while the two were playing at Stanford.
So it's little surprise that Woods consistently supported Martin
in his fight with the PGA Tour, even as his fellow pros took the
other side.
That didn't change Wednesday after Woods completed a practice
round at the Memorial, where he is the two-time defending champion.
“I'm extremely happy for Casey,” Woods said. “To
see Casey now go out there and play with peace and quiet and not
having this over his head will be beneficial for him.”
Woods, who was Martin's road roommate when he was a freshman at
Stanford, said Tuesday's ruling by the Supreme Court should help
Martin concentrate on getting his game better so he can regain
a spot on the PGA Tour.
But he also said he understood — and generally supported
— the tour's position that it should be able to make it's
own rules.
“This is a question about that,” Woods said. “You
would think we'd be able to govern our own sport. Sometimes it
just doesn't work out that way.”
Woods returns to the PGA Tour for the first time in three weeks
to try to do something even he hasn't been able to accomplish
in his remarkable career — win the same pro tournament three
years in a row.
That could change this week in a field weakened by the absence
of such names as Phil Mickelson, Davis Love and David Duval, and
on a course where Woods feels very comfortable.
“My goal is not to make a cut or show up and play half decent,”
Woods said. “My goal is to win.”
Woods has already done that four times this year, the last coming
at the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany two weeks ago. He took
off a few days after that win, then began beating golf balls once
again.
Woods, of course, is trying to peak for the U.S. Open at Southern
Hills in two weeks. He played a practice round on the course Tuesday,
and said his game is solid.
“I really feel like I'm swinging the club like I know I can,”
he said.
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