Friday, August 25, 2000
It can't be. . .he just. .
.but it is. . .Tiger Woods
By Terry Pluto
Knight Ridder Newspapers
AKRON, Ohio — NOT AGAIN.
You could see it in their faces, these,
the best golfers in the world.
NOT AGAIN.
You know that's what they're thinking.
Not Tiger Woods . . . again.
Doesn't the guy ever get tired? Couldn't
he go out and party for a few hours, instead of celebrating his
PGA victory Sunday by working on his 3-wood?
“He's off again,” was what some
of the players were saying Thursday at Firestone, as they watched
Woods vault to the top of the NEC Invitational leaderboard with
an eagle on the second hole.
And he stayed there.
All day.
NOT AGAIN.
Yep, there was Woods shooting a ridiculous
64, a stunning 6 under par. Four of his first eight holes under
par. He shot a 30 on the front nine — after that pressure-packed
31 on the back nine Sunday in the PGA.
And Thursday, he really said, “I drove
the ball awful.”
AWFUL?
The man said he drove the ball . . .awful?
“I've always been a terrible driver,”
he added.
You've gotta be kidding.
You know that's what the rest of the field
is thinking. The guy shoots a 64, and he thinks he had a lousy
day.
The scary part is that Woods was serious.
He went straight from the 18th green to the practice range to
straighten out that driver.
NOT AGAIN.
What if he really starts driving the ball?
Then, Woods might be right. Maybe, just
maybe, he is better than this. A lot better.
Didn't he win the U.S. Open by 15 strokes?
And the Masters by 12?
And the British Open by 8?
He's the defending NEC Invitational champion.
He has won four of the past six tournaments he entered. He has
won the past three majors.
He looks ready to win — again.
DEFYING LOGIC
This isn't supposed to happen.
After winning a major, a player is supposed
to be physically sapped, mentally drained, a human dishrag —
especially after beating Bob May in a three-hole playoff.
After such a victory, most guys take the
week off — or at least play like it.
Woods eats tacos with Mark O'Meara on Tuesday
night, then chews up Firestone 48 hours later.
Remember, these are the best players on
the planet, 18 of the world's top 25 players are here. And 11
of them are within 3 strokes of the lead, so it's not as if it's
Tiger and a bunch of Saturday-morning hackers.
But what Woods has done here defies logic.
He has a 24-year-old body with a 44-year-old
head. Even Michael Jordan didn't put that combination together
until his late 20s.
What Woods did Thursday would be like Jordan
having just won the NBA title in an overtime game, then dunking
in your face three days later — in a pickup game.
NOT AGAIN.
That's what any mere mortal would think.
TWO OF A KIND
Woods & Jordan.
The comparisons are striking and not just
because of their physical gifts.
Jordan never took a night off in the NBA.
Yes, he had off nights but not for lack of effort. And those failures
drove him to the practice court, to the film room, to that corner
of his heart that just burned with the eternal flame of excellence.
Being the best athlete on the court never
was enough for Jordan. He taught himself to be a deadly outside
shooter, a surprising scoring threat in the low post and an all-league
defensive player. He made eye-popping dunks and mundane free throws.
So it is with Woods.
Long game. Short game. Driver. Irons. Putter.
He wants them all to be perfect.
Yes, perfect.
Like Jordan, there are times when Woods
seems to be playing against more than the field. He plays against
himself and the standards that he has set. He'd rather cut his
own throat than coast.
He has adopted the Jack Nicklaus philosophy.
“Jack said, `I've never turned the
switch on and off. I've always had it on,'” Woods reminded
a listener.
Woods has it on this week in Akron.
AGAIN.
(c) 2000, Akron Beacon Journal
(Akron, Ohio).
Visit Akron Beacon Journal Online at http://www.ohio.com/.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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