Thursday, February 8, 2001
Tiger's not perfect, but he
still has the drive
Scripps Howard News Service
By LYLE SPENCER
The Press-Enterprise
LA JOLLA, Calif. — Tiger Woods has
had better times. His Oakland Raiders were pummeled by Baltimore.
His No.1-ranked Stanford Cardinal fell to UCLA the same weekend
he suffered a knee injury in a bizarre incident with an aggressive
autograph hound.
And he's an un-Tiger-like 0 for 2001, having
come up empty in Hawaii, Phoenix and Pebble Beach.
Slump? Not by Tiger's way of thinking. He's
wired like Kobe Bryant. With unshakeable faith in his gifts, Kobe
takes that last shot, convinced he'll deliver, even if he's 6
for 25. Tiger enters every tournament thinking it's his to lose.
Self-doubt is simply nowhere to be found
in Tiger's thinking apparatus.
“It's not very far off,” Woods
said following a pro-am round at Torrey Pines, where the Buick
Invitational unfolds this weekend. “It's close. I haven't
played terrible. I've played pretty good.
“And I always enjoy playing Torrey
Pines.”
Woods clearly is not losing sleep over his
winless start after batting .450 with 80 homers in 2000. That's
what the guy did, you know, winning nine of 20 PGA Tour events
he entered, including three of the four Grand Slams.
He was Ted Williams with Mark McGwire's
power.
This year, he's been hitting line drives
right at people and finding too many warning tracks.
Then there's this unexpected element of
pain. Strained knee ligaments, that's something new for Tiger.
“It's still all right,” he said.
“Not great, but good enough. It's still attached, which is
good.”
He was decidedly upbeat for the most part,
standing off the 18th green, answering these questions about his
sudden vulnerability.
When Tiger wins, it's news. When he doesn't
win, it's bigger news. That's where Woods has placed the bar.
“It's not like I'm missing cuts,”
Tiger said, amused by this notion that he's somehow misplaced
his game. “My worst finish is, what, 13th? I guess that's
terrible.”
The Buick, on one of Woods' favored layouts,
is a major event, if not a grand slam, simply because Tiger is
here.
Hitting this stop last year, he'd won six
in a row. Phil Mickelson ended the run with some superb shot making,
Tiger settling for second. Ratings were higher on Sunday than
for the NBA All-Star game.
This time, it's six tournaments without
a “W” for Woods dating back to last season, creating
a different kind of fascination. Is he ready to erupt and blow
a field away, like the Tiger of 2000?
“I'm right there,” he said. “It's
just a matter of time.”
The world will be watching the Buick as
long as Woods is in the hunt. If he falls off the leaderboard,
couch potatoes will activate the remote. Next week, when Tiger
ignores Bob Hope again, millions of viewers will rediscover family
life.
Tiger knows his place in the world and doesn't
shrink from expectations. He's lived with them and thrived since
childhood. Dad put a club in his hands, said go get 'em, and Tiger
went and got 'em.
“I haven't won in three tournaments,”
Woods said, disagreeing with a reporter over the extent of his
drought. “That's not a slump, not like some of you people
think it is.”
In 2000, Woods played his final 47 rounds
at par or better. Twice this season he's been 1 over. He was eighth
in the Mercedes, fifth in Phoenix, 13th at Pebble Beach.
In putts per round, he's 150th on tour,
at 30.25. But don't tell him he's struggling on the greens.
“My putting is great,” Tiger said.
“I've hit a lot of good putts, but they've been lipping out.
When you have six or seven lip-outs a day for birdie, that's a
lot.
“I'm going to get putts. It's just
a matter of time when they go in.”
He's more critical of his iron play, but
thinks he's driving better than at this time a year ago.
And never question this man's motivation.
“I have the same drive,” he said,
“the same anticipation of wanting to go out and play well,
put myself in contention and hopefully win. That hasn't changed.”
But no one truly conquers this game, not
even Tiger. He knows that. It's something his new fans will have
to accept over time.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)
Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address)
of This Story to A Friend:
|
