Friday, August 17, 2001
Confidence escapes Tiger Woods
By Drew Sharp
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
DULUTH, Ga. — Lunch could wait. Tiger Woods was too disgusted
to digest anything beyond another horrible
opening round. Instead, he headed for the practice tee, where
he remained for a couple of hours, hoping to regain the
accuracy and the confidence that has escaped him.
The best player in the world isn’t even the best player
in his pairing.
What the Funk is going on here?
There’s a first-round PGA Championship leader board sprinkled
with the unlikely names of Fred Funk, Grant
Waite and Niclas Fasth, among others. And there trailing leader
Waite, nine shots off the pace, sat Woods following
an opening-round 73 that included two double bogeys.
That’s not uncommon. We’ve seen such tepid starts
before — this year’s U.S. Open and the 2000 Masters
immediately come to mind. And each time, Tiger would reassure
himself and his congregation of followers that the lost
ground was recoverable in the next three days.
But nobody believed him when he said it Thursday — including
himself.
Errant off the tee and inconsistent with the putter, Woods
seemed unsure with his swing and decision-making. It
was bound to happen, wasn’t it? Although he made it look
that way last summer, the smooth golf swing isn’t
automatic. The machine turned mortal and emotional. When he was
short on what’s usually an easy approach for him
at No. 8, he angrily shook at the club — as if it were the
wedge’s fault.
Tiger is slowly coming to resemble many of those ha has vanquished
— muttering to himself. After another errant
drive sailed into trouble, Tiger slammed his club against the
turf and yelled “What the (you know what’s) going on?!”
Roles reversed. Here’s David Duval, tied for second at
four-under and one of Tiger’s playing partners, serving as
a Tiger sympathizer.
“He’s human, you know,” Duval said. “Just
like the rest of us.”
He might be human, but he’s not like the rest of us.
And don’t believe for one second that Duval’s shedding
one tear over his good friend’s misfortune. Duval has
been on the disappointing end of these head-to-head pairings many
times. He understands the fickleness of luck. Fresh
off his first major championship at the British Open, Duval has
never felt better about his game.
He’s relaxed. He’s smiling and having fun. He’s
in the groove. And if he can win back-to-back majors, he’ll
give
this sport the regal rivalry it needs.
Golf is a game of valleys and peaks, and there’s something
refreshing about seeing the best player on the planet
vexed. Excellence should never appear without sweat. Winning all
the time diminishes the magnitude of the
achievement. Tiger’s struggles this summer should make us
all appreciate his magnificence last summer even more.
Besides, we were running out of superlatives.
A wise weekend hacker once said golf is a four-letter word.
It’s a frustrating sport at any level, and the novices
Woods introduced to the game in the past 12 months are getting
an important education watching their star battle
through his bewilderment.
The perfect swing, if attainable at all, is fleeting at best.
“I didn’t hit the ball very good today, and I didn’t
make that many putts,” Woods said. “I made a couple
here and
there, but I had three three-putts, and if I didn’t have
the three-putts, I’m right there at even par and I’m
pretty happy
heading into the second round. I started off not hitting the ball
very well, but I was putting well. Then, I started hitting it
pretty good but couldn’t make any putts.”
The moist morning magnified Tiger’s disappointment. The
softened greens turned the round into target practice,
perfect for low scoring. But there was Tiger following the opening
round — tied for 100th place.
When was the last time you could remember Woods being seven
shots off the pace in his own pairing?
The reigning Masters, U.S. and British Open champs played
together, starting the day off on the back nine, with
an opening day throng previously reserved for the holey triumvirate
of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.
Duval birdied the first three holes, and Retief Goosen admitted
battling nerves, playing with such an august group, but
he finished at one-under.
“I’m not that far off,” Woods said. “If
I just eliminate my mistakes, . . . I should be able to move up
the board a
little bit.”
It would sound more convincing if he believed it.
———
© 2001, Detroit Free Press.
Visit the Freep, the World Wide Web site of the Detroit Free
Press, at http://www.freep.com.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
