Friday, October 18,
2002
Tiger’s
year enjoyable, at least on course
By Doug Ferguson
Associated Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA,
Fla. — Even by his own high standards, Tiger Woods has had
quite a year — two majors, six victories worldwide and only
one mention of a slump.
That doesn’t
mean the year has been enjoyable.
Woods believes he
has been targeted for criticism no matter what he says, when he
plays or what he wears.
The National Council
of Women’s Organizations hammered him for not taking a stronger
position on Augusta National’s all-male membership.
Woods thinks Augusta
should have a female member, but also believes in the rights of
private clubs to set their own rules.
He was roasted by
the British press for playing an early practice round on the day
before the Ryder Cup, finishing 18 holes before most fans were
even on the course.
Woods also was amused
at criticism that he wore a white turtleneck at the Ryder Cup
while the rest of the U.S. team had red short-sleeved shirts.
“That was part
of the team outfit,” he said. “I thought that was kind
of funny that they were picking on that.
“I think everyone
wants to write something. Whatever the smallest issues are, that’s
what they are going to do.”
There hasn’t
been anything small about his game.
Woods returns to
the PGA Tour on Thursday at the Disney World Golf Classic having
already sewn up his fourth consecutive PGA Tour money title.
His five PGA Tour
victories this year are three more than anyone else. He became
the first player since Jack Nicklaus in 1972 to win the first
two majors of the year, the Masters and the U.S. Open. He also
closed with four straight birdies at the PGA Championship and
came up one stroke short of Rich Beem.
What impresses Woods
the most is his consistency. Dating to Doral in the first week
of March, he has finished lower than fourth only three times —
The Players Championship (tie for 14th), the Memorial (tie for
22nd) and the British Open, where he shot 81 in a cold, hard wind
and wound up in a tie for 28th.
“In eight months,
that’s pretty good playing,” Woods said.
Woods said he had
a 102-degree fever during the final two days of the Ryder Cup,
where he went 2-2-1 and wound up on the losing side for the second
time in three matches.
He didn’t pick
up a club again until this week.
“I took a long
time off, which is nice,” Woods said. “I’m a little
bit on the rusty side, but it feels good to be that way. It’s
been a long year, and the year is winding down.”
In some respects,
Woods is just cranking it up.
He’ll finish
his PGA Tour season in two weeks at East Lake for the Tour Championship,
then heads to Japan for the Dunlop Phoenix.
After that, he goes
to Hawaii for the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, the California desert
for the Skins Game, then finally calls it a year at his own tournament,
the Target World Challenge in California two weeks before Christmas.
“I am making
one more run at the end of the year,” he said.
“That’s
why I shut it down and didn’t do anything. I tried to make
sure I was physically ready for this long stretch coming up.”
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