Wednesday, August 29, 2001
Despite setbacks, Woods is still at head
of the class
By Bill Nichols
The Dallas Morning News
(KRT)
Phil Mickelson said last week that the race for player of
the year was still on.
That may have been the case before the PGA Championship. But
not after Mickelson failed to win the final
major, and Tiger Woods got his fifth victory on Sunday.
Mickelson can talk all he wants about his 13 top-10 finishes.
And everybody else can keep pretending that
Woods’ dominance has slipped.
But who else has won five times in a season?
Since 1980, only one other player has — Nick Price in
1994.
Although Woods failed to contend in the final three majors,
and went five tournaments without a victory (a
common occurrence for every other player), that should not diminish
his accomplishments.
So what if his incredible statistics are a little off from
last year’s record-setting performance?
Although we have seen other players raise their games, with
Retief Goosen winning the U.S. Open, David Duval
capturing the British Open, and David Toms taking the PGA Championship
in dramatic fashion, the landscape has
not changed dramatically.
Just the opposite, really. After winning nine of 20 events
last year and despite problems with his swing, Woods
has won five of the 16 tour events he has played.
And he has the chance to win a few more, including the WGC-American
Express Championship and the Tour
Championship in Houston.
Mickelson has won twice in 23 starts while compiling a remarkable
10 top-three finishes, but still lacks a major.
Duval won the British Open, but nothing else.
Is there really any doubt about the player of the year?
That’s why it came as shock to hear Mickelson, who said
the same thing at the PGA, still campaigning for
player of the year last Friday.
“I think it’s going to be pretty close this year,”
Mickelson told reporters after the second round of the
WGC-NEC Invitational. “I know that there’s one player
who has won more tournaments, but I don’t know who has
played better throughout the year. If I can have a good finish
this week (eighth) and get to No. 1 on the money list, I
think that I would have a shot.”
Mickelson, who obviously does not value wins as much as top-10
finishes and money, could have made a
strong argument if he had had won the PGA. That would have given
him three victories, including a major, which
would have made his top-three finishes even more impressive.
“I think I’ve had a pretty good year and Phil’s
had a pretty good year,” Woods said. “We’ve got
two really big
tournaments coming up, the AMEX Championship as well as our Tour
Championship and some pretty good tour
events in between.”
It was fitting that Woods won the NEC, one day shy of his
fifth anniversary of turning pro.
With his seven-hole playoff victory over Jim Furyk on Sunday,
Woods posted his 29th victory. Only 25, he has
matched the number of wins that Jack Nicklaus had before turning
30.
Woods is tied for 16th with Gene Littler and Paul Runyan on
the PGA Tour’s career victory list, one behind
Jimmy Demaret and Harry Cooper.
Woods also became the first player to earn more than $25 million
in a career, with his $1 million paycheck
pushing his career earnings to $25,989,198.
He continues to amaze, leaving unprecedented feats in his
wake.
Woods won his third straight Memorial Tournament in June and
his third straight NEC. He is the first player to
win two events three years running since Gene Sarazen in the 1920s.
The way things are going, Woods should win his third straight
Jack Nicklaus Trophy for player of the year, his
third straight Arnold Palmer Trophy for leading money winner,
and his third straight Byron Nelson Trophy for
adjusted scoring average.
Unless, of course, he gets in a slump.
———
© 2001, The Dallas Morning News.
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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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