Sunday, July 9, 2000
Woods back in pack but says
game is OK
By Reid Hanley
Chicago Tribune
Tiger Woods playfully tossed the celebrated
Nike Tour Accuracy ball into the pond that guards the 18th green
at Cog Hill's Dubsdread.
That was, perhaps, his most accurate shot
on the green all day Sunday.
Woods, whose switch from the Titleist ball
shook the golf world, had trouble finding the hole once he got
to the greens at Dubsdread. The U.S. Open champion shot an even-par
72 to finish the Advil Western Open at 7-under par. Woods, last
year's champion, finished seven shots behind playoff winner Robert
Allenby and Nick Price, but wasn't especially disappointed in
how he played.
“I didn't play all that bad,”
Woods said. “I hit a lot of good shots and just didn't make
any putts. When that happens, you're not going to go very low.
“Overall, I hit the ball beautifully,
hit a lot of good, solid shots, held the wind. I drove it great
this week. I just didn't make any of those 10- or 15-footers to
get momentum going. If I had any kind of momentum, I sure stopped
it quick.”
Woods, who jokingly said he'd return to
Cog Hill next year “if they invite me,” didn't get off
to a very good start Sunday. He missed birdie putts at the first,
third and fourth holes. On the par-5 fifth he knocked an 8-iron
235 yards off a tree, and the ball richocheted off a spectator,
William Fick, 63, of Antioch. “I didn't know it happened,”
Woods said. “I knew I hit an 8-iron about 230 in the air,
got lucky and hit the tree and came back. I didn't know it hit
the tree, then hit him in the face. I got up there, and it was
kind of a shock to see him bleeding from the nose.”
As soon as Woods reached the green he went
over to Fick, shook his hand and apologized. Woods went back to
talk to Fick after he finished putting, shook hands again and
gave Fick his ball.
For the tournament, Woods totaled 281, failing
to break 280 for only the third time in 13 tournaments. It was
only the second tournament this year in which he failed to break
70 more than once, and his tie for 23rd was his worst finish of
the year, the only time he has been out of the top 20. His second-round
69 on Friday was his best of the tournament.
With the British Open less than two weeks
away, though, Woods is happy with his game. He flew to Ireland
on Sunday night and will play in a charity pro-am for junior golf
Monday and Tuesday. But rather than golf, he will concentrate
on catching more trout than neighbor Mark O'Meara.
Woods wasn't concerned about taking 29 putts
on Sunday and 121 for the week.
“Not at all,” he said. “I
putted absolutely terrible before going to the U.S. Open, and
I did all right there.”
(c) 2000, Chicago Tribune.
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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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