Thursday, August 16, 2001
Tiger not conceding anything
By BOB HARIG
St. Petersburg Times
DULUTH, Ga. — If it were any other player, four tournaments
in a row outside of the top 10 would not even register. But because
it is Tiger Woods, something must be wrong.
Woods didn't exactly say Tuesday he has conquered the swing problems
that caused him to finish outside of the top 10 in four consecutive
tournaments for the first time in four years. But he doesn't sound
like a man ready to concede the PGA Championship, either.
“It's not like I've played so bad that I've gone off the
map,” said Woods, the two-time defending champ who begins
his defense Thursday at Atlanta Athletic Club.
“I was just a little off this summer and when you're playing
the courses that I've played, I usually tend to play the harder
tournaments and the harder golf courses. And when you are a little
bit off, it is going to show, and I really wasn't swinging quite
as well.
“I did in spurts, where I would play, five, six, seven holes
and never miss a shot. Then I'd go off and play two or three bad
ones and couldn't find it. Playing tough courses, you cannot afford
to play that way. You need to play consistent, plod your way along,
and I have not been able to play that way.”
MAY DAY: The man who nearly denied Woods at last year's PGA Championship
has been quiet in 2001. Bob May, who shot a final-round 66 at
Valhalla Golf Club before falling by a shot to Woods in a three-hole
playoff, has been bothered by two bulging discs in his back that
knocked him out for two months.
May has played in 19 tournaments this year, his best finish was
15th at the International two weeks ago. He is 87th on the PGA
Tour money list.
“I think it's a competitive thing,” May said. “I
think I'm back now. I just need to get a couple of good tournaments.”
May was injured in February at the Bob Hope Classic. He noticed
something after hitting a tee shot, then the next day could barely
move. After having tests performed, May took two months off.
But nobody forgot about his performance at the PGA, where May
didn't make a final-round bogey, shot 31 on the back nine and
shot three consecutive 66s to take Woods to the brink.
“When I watch it on video, I realize what a lot of people
said, how good the golf was between the two of us,” May said.
TEE FOR TWO: For the first time in a men's major championship,
players will tee off the front and back nine, perhaps to try to
speed up play. Rounds were taking as long as six hours last year
at Valhalla.
“It is a move in the right direction,” Germany's Bernhard
Langer said. “When you have a two-tee start, you have a lot
more guys playing the same conditions.”
This year's major championship winners — Woods, Retief Goosen
and David Duval — will be paired together for the first two
rounds. They go off the 10th tee Thursday at 8:45 a.m. and tee
off No. 1 Friday at 1:50 p.m.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
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