Wednesday, September 6, 2000
Sutton not ready to hand over title to
Woods just yet
By MICHAEL GRANGE
Toronto Globe and Mail
OAKVILLE, Ontario — The Bell Canadian Open couldn't be set
up better this week. Not only is Tiger Woods here, but the defending
champion is Hal Sutton.
Sutton is a fine defending champion, a crisp iron player and as
engaging and insightful a player as you'll find on the PGA Tour.
But more important this week, he's one of the few of his brethren
to stare into the bright sun that is Woods's golf game these days
and come away with his focus intact.
Sutton proved his mettle in March. Paired with Woods on the final
day of the Players Championship, Sutton made good on his promise
to himself to stand firm against an inevitable assault.
Going into the week, Woods had six wins and two second-place finishes
in his 10 previous events and had taken on an air of invincibility,
with Davis Love III admitting at the Bay Hill Invitational that
Woods's game intimidated him.
Colin Montgomerie said that when Woods posted a first-round 69,
the mood in the locker room was that everyone else was playing
for second.
Sutton was the most vocal of a number of tour players who disagreed
with that notion at the Players Championship, and he went out
and proved it. Starting the final round with a one-shot lead,
Sutton had pushed it to three strokes by the 11th hole when play
was suspended because of the weather. Next day, he finished what
he started as Woods narrowed the gap to one stroke, forcing Sutton
to cover the flag with his approach on the 18th to seal the win.
“The night before that last round at the TPC, I knew what
was on me,” Sutton said. “I knew that other guys had
said he can't be beat, or that they didn't feel like they could
beat him in this situation or whatever else, you know. And I felt
like we needed to turn that around.
“We needed to turn the tide and say, 'Yes, there are people
out there that can beat Tiger.'”
Woods's roll is not even close to stopping. He makes his third
appearance at the Canadian Open after winning four of his past
six starts this year, including three major championships.
It might be Sutton's time again. While some players prefer not
to talk about Woods — maybe hoping that if they ignore him,
he'll go away — Sutton relishes meeting the standards Woods
has set.
“He can rain on my parade any time,” Sutton said. “I'm
a realist. Tiger has played tremendous golf. He is a good friend
and a great player. I am amazed every day by his desire level
to be the best he can be.
“You know, when I was 24 years old if I did something really
good, it took me a week to recover the internal celebration of
having done it. It looks like Tiger is over it after about 15
seconds.”
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
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