Wednesday, July 18, 2001
Tiger not kidding himself
By Rich Hofmann
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England — In the last little while,
Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman
have had the monumental nerve to suggest in print that Tiger Woods
ought to get married. And when
they say it, we ask about it, drawn to it like flies to, well.
Anyway, it was the second question Tuesday at Woods’
news conference on the eve of the
British Open.
“Well, when I feel the time is right, then the time is
right - just like when they did,” Woods said.
“When they found the time was right in their lives, obviously
they made that decision. I don’t feel right
now I’m in any hurry to do that. When I do know, you guys
will be the first to know.”
It’s been about six weeks now since Woods spanked a field
of golfers on the PGA Tour, which
means that SOMETHING IS WRONG. With that, we are casting about
for solutions, all of us - and
we are doing it with all the precision of a blindfolded intoxicant.
It is silliness heaped upon ridiculousness, but it is also
a product of Woods’ outrageous run to four
consecutive major championships. But the questions about history
have become less frequent. Now,
we probe the psyche to see if we can see the cracks - as if that
were possible, given the fact that
almost nobody gets any closer to him than the distance provided
by a podium and a microphone.
And so, we ask:
Hobbies?
“You know, I’ve really enjoyed fishing,” Woods
said, who has been to Alaska and Ireland
recently in search of fish and solitude. “I enjoy diving.
I enjoy doing other activities that I have around
my house, and actually fitness has been real nice, too... to work
out and stay fit. That takes up a lot of
time. If you do it diligently, I think it’s going to take
up a lot of your time...
“But I think the biggest thing I have really enjoyed
is fishing - the difficult aspects to it, the different
places I’ve been able to go and see and enjoy, and the peacefulness
of it, the tranquility of it all.”
Woods’ theory is simple: You can overprepare for something
like this, so he doesn’t. Given his
recent troubles, given everything, he figures he’s still
better off practicing some and goofing around
some and not pushing it - all this from a golfaholic. He says
the worst thing you can be is physically or
mentally tired before a major championship - that the competition
is grueling enough, and that the
competition here at Royal Lytham&St.Annes could be brutal
if the wind and rain that arrived Tuesday
afternoon book lodgings for the weekend.
Meanwhile, the whole slump thing is hilarious. Just for fun,
let’s compare how Woods has done
leading up to the last couple of British Opens.
In 1997, he won four times before the British - one major
- and finished in the top five of two
other tournaments.
In 1998, he won once - no majors - and finished in the top
five of three other tournaments.
In 1999, he won three times - no majors - and finished in
the top five of five other tournaments.
In 2000, he won five times - one major - and finished in the
top five of six other tournaments.
And now in 2001, in the year of the slump, Woods has won five
times - one major - and finished
in the top five of four other tournaments.
Slumping, then.
Slumping toward immortality.
“I’m sure that when I play well, I think it is blown
out of proportion a little bit,” Woods said. “I
think when I play poorly it is blown out of proportion. The real
truth is somewhere in between.
Granted, I know you are trying to satisfy the readers and your
editors, keep your jobs. I understand
that part. When I am playing well, yes, it is fun. It’s great.
“I have heard some pretty incredible statements in the
press at how good I was playing. I don’t
know if I was quite that good and I don’t think it is really
that poor (now). I’m not struggling to break
90. I’m doing all right. I’m still shooting under par.”
But Woods is struggling. Doesn’t he read the papers?
For better or worse, he is competing
against only himself - and himself raised the bar pretty high
in the last year. At some point, we will all
come to grips with the reality that Woods can be the best player
in the history of the sport and also a
guy who finishes out of the top 10 for a few weeks each summer.
Until then, we cast about.
Is something missing in his life?
“I think any time that you want to succeed in life, you
are going to have to make sacrifices,”
Woods said. “I think I have made my share. But then again,
on the flip side of that, because of the
sacrifices and the successes I have been able to have, I have
been able to enjoy doing other hobbies
that probably most kids my age would definitely never even have
thought about doing. That, to me, is
interesting, too. It’s a lot of fun.”
First thought: He still thinks of himself as a kid.
Final thought: The kid is still the favorite.
© 2001, Philadelphia Daily News.
Visit Philadelphia Online, the World Wide Web site of the
Philadelphia Daily News, at
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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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