| AP Sports Headlines |
Thursday, July 18, 2002
By Bill Nichols
The Dallas Morning News
GULLANE, Scotland – Tiger Woods has brought pageantry to this seaside moor, attracting the world's attention with his quest for the Grand Slam.
As attention shines on Woods heading into the British Open at Muirfield, his dominance has shed critical light on his rivals. They have been backed into a corner, left to defend themselves for not putting up more of a fight.
The issue has gathered steam since Woods won the Masters and U.S. Open by simply steering clear of trouble during the final round. Legends Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player have criticized today's players. The legends say they faced more competition in their era.
Today's players have responded by saying the legends should be glad they played when they did.
"I think it's unfair the way other people from the outside just criticize you because you don't beat the guy," said two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els. "We play a different game nowadays. You don't see guys with fat bellies out there anymore. Those great players probably would have been as good today, but would they have beaten Tiger? There is a big question mark there."
Woods has won eight majors by a combined 44 strokes and has captured seven of the last 11. The only players to win more than one major since Woods turned professional in 1996 are Mark O'Meara and Vijay Singh, with two each.
At the Masters, five of the world's top seven players were right behind Woods entering the final round, but Woods won by three strokes with a 1-under 71. At the U.S. Open, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia were two strokes back with 15 holes to play, but Woods won by three strokes with a 2-over 72.
"It's not like they're shooting 80s on the final round," Woods said. "They're shooting solid rounds. Phil shot even par on Sunday of the U.S. Open and, under those conditions, that's not easy to do. It's just that I had a big enough lead over him. I was able to outlast him."
Nicklaus said he rarely had the luxury of coasting during the final round of a major. In fact, when he was going for the third leg of the Grand Slam 30 years ago at Muirfield, he fell one stroke short to Lee Trevino, who was defending his title.
"You can say that David Duval doesn't have the guts or the drive, or Phil Mickelson doesn't, or Sergio, or they're not good enough, or too spoiled," said Duval, who won his first major at last year's British Open. "It's something you can't argue."
Duval said that Woods has pushed other players to greater heights. He said Woods separates himself with his course management just as Nicklaus did by playing mistake-free golf and waiting for others to make errors.
"I think there are other players as talented," Duval said. "I think he is as mechanically sound as anybody. I think he works as hard as anybody. I think the difference lies in the mental approach."
Nicklaus said Woods has his rivals "buffaloed," that they cower when in contention against him. One inference in the debate is that modern players do not match Woods' work ethic. That has drawn the most vehement reaction.
"The effort is there," Dallas' Justin Leonard said. "Personally, I can't put a whole lot more effort into it. Can I stay out and hit balls for another hour? Yes. Can I play more tournaments? Yes. But that's probably going to harm me more than it's going to help me in the long run."
Woods rushed to his rivals' defense Tuesday. He said the depth on tour is much stronger than before, offering better scoring averages as proof. He pointed out that he set the scoring record at the 2000 PGA Championship, and didn't run away with the title. He beat Bob May in a playoff.
"The guys are getting better, and the scores are getting lower and it's tougher to win," Woods said. "More guys have a chance to win. In their era, there were a select few guys that had a chance."
Garcia fashions himself as a rival to Woods. Only 22, he is considered one of the top young players in the world. But he shot 4-over 74 going head-to-head against Woods at the U.S. Open.
Maybe Garcia, and the others, are learning from the losses.
"There's no doubt that there are a lot of good players that can beat him," Garcia said. "He just somehow manages himself, to hang in there and not make many mistakes. That probably puts a little extra pressure on the other guys, thinking, `Well, he's not going to make mistakes so we have to try harder."'
–––
© 2002, The
Dallas Morning News.
|
|
 |
© 1995- The E.W.
Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News. All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement. We also have a Privacy Policy. |
