Thursday, September 7, 2000
A different Tiger returns to Canada
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
OAKVILLE, Ontario (AP) — So much has changed from when Tiger
Woods last played in the Canadian Open.
He doesn't hit the ball farther, only straighter. His biggest
rivals are not found in the locker room, but the record books.
And he doesn't go home before the weekend.
The Canadian Open is the only tournament where Woods missed the
cut in his young but spectacular PGA Tour career. It was in 1997,
at Royal Montreal, during a time when he was just starting to
revamp a swing that would lead to unthinkable dominance in golf.
Woods made a birdie on his 17th hole that he figured would qualify
him for the weekend, but then missed the green on his last hole,
took bogey and missed the cut by one stroke.
“That's in the past,” Woods said. “I've gotten
a little bit better since then.”
Woods is not out for revenge when the Canadian Open gets under
way Thursday at Glen Abbey Golf Club.
He is not out to win the only big tournament that eluded Jack
Nicklaus. He is not trying to join Lee Trevino as the only players
to win the U.S. Open, British Open and Canadian Open in the same
year.
“Why am I here? Well, I like to play golf,” Woods said
with a smile Wednesday, after another pro-am round that attracted
a Sunday-like gallery.
Actually, the Canadian Open proved to be a perfect fit for a player
who wants to take time off — but not too much time —
before the final stretch of his incredible year.
Woods pushed himself to the limit this summer, winning the U.S.
Open by a record 15 strokes, completing the Grand Slam with an
eight-stroke victory in the British Open and then becoming the
first player since Ben Hogan to win three straight majors with
a playoff victory over Bob May in the PGA Championship.
Running on fumes, he had just enough kick left to win the NEC
Invitational at Firestone against a world-class field — by
11 strokes. Out of gas, he lost to Sergio Garcia in their Monday
Night Golf exhibition in California.
Ten days later, Woods can see the end of the summer.
“After this tournament, I can shut it down for a while and
get ready for my home stretch,” Woods said. “I know
that this is my last tournament for a while, which means I can
go ahead and take it hard.”
Defending champion Hal Sutton expects no letdown. He is one of
only four players who has stared down Woods in a final round,
winning The Players Championship. He is also among a much larger
group — just about everybody — who is continually amazed.
“When I was 24 years old, if I did something really good
it took me a week to recover from the internal celebration of
having done it,” Sutton said. “It looks to me like Tiger
is over it after about 15 seconds. He's got the ability to do
things that usually takes people until they are 30 or 35 to figure
out how to do.
“I am amazed every day by his desire level to be the best
he can be.”
That's something Mike Weir is still trying to learn. Canada's
most popular player came to Glen Abbey last year having won in
Vancouver. Emotionally exhausted, he missed the cut for the eighth
consecutive year in his national open.
“It was kind of a blur,” Weir said. “Winning a
tournament is mentally exhausting. At least it was for me.”
That apparently isn't the case for Woods.
He won six straight PGA Tour events from late 1999 to early this
season, the longest streak on tour since Ben Hogan in 1948. He
also has won three straight majors, and set tournament scoring
records in four straight victories.
And after missing the cut at Royal Montreal in 1997, he has a
tour-high streak of 55 cuts made, the fifth-highest in tour history.
Perhaps he can add another streak this week — consecutive
“Open” championships.
“Lee has taught me a few things in this game,” Woods
said Wednesday. “It would be nice to share something in common
with him.”
Trevino won the '71 U.S. Open in a playoff against Nicklaus, then
played the Canadian Open two weeks later at Richelieu Valley in
Quebec and beat Art Wall Jr. in a playoff. Then, it was off to
England, where he beat Lu Liang Huan at Royal Birkdale.
But it was only after Trevino won the British Open that the Royal
Canadian Golf Association awarded Trevino the “Triple Crown”
and gave him a $25,000 bonus.
Trevino probably wasn't aware he was the only player to win the
three oldest “Opens” in golf in the same year, but this
much was clear — it was the best summer of his distinguished
career. That's something to which Woods can already relate, at
least for now.
“When you're playing well and trying to get better, you don't
really know how good you can get,” Woods said. “I'm
sure when I'm about 50 years old I will be able to look back and
say I was really that good then. But right now, I don't know what
my potential will be.”
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story
to A Friend:
|
