Sunday, June 18, 2000
Tiger doing golf a huge service
By Paul Kenyon
The Providence Journal
(KRT)
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - This is good, what
Tiger Woods is doing.
It's good for golf. It's good for all sports.
Some might not be happy. Maybe for those
who did not like the domination of the old Celtics or Yankees,
or the Cowboys in their prime, it's not so good. Maybe for those
who like to see Cinderella stories, it is killing some of the
fun. Maybe for David Duval or Davis Love III or Brad Faxon, Tiger
is cutting into their income.
The view from here, though, is that golf
needs Tiger. Sports needs Tiger.
Go, Tiger!
It would be great if Woods won the 100th
U.S. Open, which now seems all but certain to happen. It would
be even better if he continues to blow away the field and wins
by 12 strokes, as he did at The Masters three years ago. Or even
more.
With Tiger, no one is complaining about
golf being boring, about all the players coming from the same
cookie cutter.
With Tiger, there is a superstar who makes
the game better. Just this week, the Open said good-bye to Jack
Nicklaus after 44 years. Tiger sure looks like a worthy replacement.
Michael Jordan is an executive now. John Elway is a part owner
of Pebble Beach, where the Open is being contested. America needs
a sports hero. Keep going, Tiger.
When Woods does the expected on Sunday and
closes out the victory, he will have won five times, and more
than $5 million. That's just this season. this half-season. He
will have won 20 PGA Tour events, making him the winningest active
player not on the Senior Tour, moving him one ahead of Ben Crenshaw
and two up on Greg Norman, both likely Hall of Famers. Woods is
24 years old, competing in a sport in which players peak in their
30s.
His success does not just draw fans and
build television ratings. It impacts on the players, much more
positively than negatively. It is helping make his opponents better.
Or at least try to be.
"His success is making other people
do things differently than they would normally do," Faxon
said yesterday as he stood below the big scoreboard on the 18th
hole at Pebble, the one that said Tiger, after two rounds, had
a six-stroke lead, the largest ever after two rounds in the Open.
"I see guys maybe changing the way
they act, the way they do things, myself included," Faxon
said. "You are comparing yourself to Tiger in every apsect.
I've got to hit it further. I've got to hit it straighter. I've
got to putt better. I've got to hit more creative shots. Instead
of being yourself, you're trying to be some other guy. I think
it's affected Davis Love; I think it's affected David Duval."
In the short run, it might be hurting. In
the long run, it will simply make everyone better.
"It's like when Nicklaus first came
up," Faxon said. "He was kicking everybody's butt, just
like Tiger is now. It's not the first time it's ever been done.
People are going to have to figure out how to beat him."
It's hard to be around Woods and not be
impressed with how he handles himself. On or off the course, it
doesn't matter. He is almost as good with a microphone in his
hand as a driver.
There is a cockiness at times, the same
kind of confidence so many of the greats have. He has had his
moments of poor judgment. Rhode Islanders can recall when he refused
to sign a ball for the Faxon-Billy Andrade Charities for Children
three years ago.
Still, anyone who thinks the brashness is
his dominating feature simply has not seen him often enough. He
has long since learned to be gracious, pleasant, even charming,
in dealing with both the fans and the media. And he's getting
better at it all the time.
His personality - which is likeable - is
coming through, much as Nicklaus's did as he grew into stardom;
as Jordan's did. It has become obvious that his trademark fist
pump, which has irritated some, is just Tiger being Tiger. When
the time calls for it, he is able to laugh and smile, much as
he did in the third round yesterday when he hit a great shot from
a terrible stance on the sixth hole, leading to a birdie.
If his fellow players resent what he is
doing, they are not showing it.
"I would say so. The only thing that
can stop Tiger from winning is Tiger," said Jersper Parnevik,
who played with Woods in the first two rounds.
"It's awesome to see," said Jose
Maria Olazabal, the former Masters champion who is one of Woods's
pursuers this week. "Very impressive."
"He looks like he's in control of his
game," said Jim Furyk, the third player in the group with
Woods and Parnevik for the first two rounds. "He's hitting
it left to right, and he's hitting it right to left, hitting what
the shot calls for. And when he's made a few mistakes, his putter
has really bailed him out."
"The way I look at it, even-par is
a very good score around here," said Phil Mickelson. "(Woods's
work is) amazing golf. That's an exhibition comparable to what
he did in Augusta in 1997."
After Tiger's tremendous third-round 68
yesterday, Ernie Els was asked if he felt Woods was good for the
sport.
"I would say so, yes," he responded.
"But it would be even better for golf if someone cold step
up and play with him."
"I've had my run-ins with him. I just
haven't had enough," Els said. "I'd like to get more
of that. I think it's definitely good for my game."
Els noted that Woods is "probably the
most recognizable sports figure on the planet right now . . .
It brings in sponsors. It brings in a lot of media, a lot of people.
It seems like golf has really taken off with him."
The game will keep getting bigger and better
as long as it has Tiger.
(c) 2000, The Providence Journal.
Visit projo.com, the online service of The Providence Journal
at http://www.projo.com
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
|
