Monday, July 17, 2000
Woods made British debut in `95 as Palmer
was bowing out
By Ed Sherman
Chicago Tribune
(KRT)
Well, you can't win them all. But if you're Tiger Woods, maybe
you can win one out of every two.
After his recent speed bump at Cog Hill, Woods should be ready
to rise again at St. Andrews in this week's British Open.
Woods spent last week in Ireland, playing its legendary links
courses and fishing with buddies such as Mark O'Meara. He probably
has long since forgotten his putting fiasco at the Advil Western
Open.
Woods is the overwhelming favorite to win at St. Andrews. If John
Daly could overpower the course and win there like he did in 1995,
imagine what Woods can do in 2000.
“St. Andrews has always set up well for anybody who can hit
the ball long,” Woods said. “I think the course sets
up well for me just because of the fact I can shape the ball both
ways. I can draw or cut it. To be able to hold the ball in the
wind if it's coming off the left is a huge advantage, because
I can get it down there right and still have an angle on a lot
of these pins.”
Woods is well versed about the history of St. Andrews. He saw
it up close in 1995. Playing in his first British Open at St.
Andrews, he was able to see Arnold Palmer tee off there for the
last time.
“It was kind of neat that my first one that happened to coincide
with his last one,” Woods said. “St. Andrews is very
special. It's the birthplace of golf.”
A challenger: Woods can't call himself the hottest player in golf
these days. That title belongs to an old college teammate, Notah
Begay.
Begay has won his last two PGA Tour events and finished in a tie
for fourth in the Loch Lomond International in Scotland.
Woods is particularly proud of the way Begay has bounced back
from a DUI conviction in January, which landed him a week in jail.
“To understand the mistake, admit, cope with it, move on
and then to win back-to-back, that's impressive,” Woods said.
“Notah always was going to be a good player. At the junior
level, he won. In college, he won. He won on the Nike Tour. He's
always won.”
All natural: Sex sells. Even in golf.
Natural Golf's new commercial on the Golf Channel is, shall we
say, revealing. It features a man and a woman playing golf au
naturel. A couple of strategically placed bags make it suitable
for TV.
“Our golf swing is about stripping down to the bare essentials,”
said Andrew Wyant, president of the Hoffman Estates company. “We
thought, why not do something funny?”
The ad, shot at Prairie Landing in West Chicago, is an attempt
by Natural Golf to reach out to a younger audience. The current
age of the average customer using the technique is 54, thanks
in part to an infomercial that features 70-somethings Pat Summerall
and Bob Rosburg.
Natural Golf has received a few complaints that the commercial
was in bad taste, but it also has seen traffic at its Web site
increase by 800 percent and sales also have increased.
“Hopefully, people will have a sense of humor about it,”
Wyant said.
(c) 2000, Chicago Tribune.
Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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