Woods says he made a few 'mistakes' in first
Grand Slam season
By Frank Brown
New York Daily News
(KRT)
MAMARONECK, N.Y. - Tiger Woods opened his first Grand Slam
season with a runaway victory at the Masters. He tied for 19th
at the U.S. Open, tied for 24th at the British, and finished his
inaugural season by tying for 29th at the PGA.
"It's my first run-through of a full season, and I made
a few mistakes - my scheduling, and my play because of that, my
energy level. But I'm sure next year will be different,"
Woods said Sunday.
"There's a lot of lessons I've learned," he added
after a final-round 75 at Winged Foot put his tournament total
at 286 and put him in a group of 12 who each pocketed $13,625.
"I've learned scheduling: I played too much at times, not
enough at times."
Sunday, he played on a tender ankle that he said he injured
on the fourth hole of Saturday's third-round 71. Asked if it affected
his swing, Woods replied, "What do you think?"
Woods did not make a birdie until 18. He took a double-bogey
six on the ninth hole and went out in 39.
"I didn't make anything today, except for the putts I
made on the last three holes," said Woods, who parred the
17th hole Sunday after a double-bogey there the day before. "I
needed to make some putts early in the round - the first hole
was critical - and I couldn't make them. And that set the tone
for the rest of the day."
Woods was standing over a putt on the first green when a huge
roar went up from a neighboring hole. Though it may have been
more prudent to step away, Woods remained over the ball, missed
a five-footer and had about two feet coming back for the bogey
that put him at plus-2.
Woods was unable to convert a birdie chance at the second hole,
was inches short of a birdie at three and then took a bogey at
four.
Before Woods putted for par at the seventh green, a young woman
in a Yankees T-shirt surveyed the entourage of security people,
state police and media accompanying the Woods-Phil Mickelson tandem.
"You'd think he was doing good or something," the
woman said of Woods. "He's 3 over."
He was until that 6 on the ninth hole. But unlike Saturday's
round, when there were two 6es on his card, Woods kept the catastrophes
to a minimum; he simply never climbed nearer the leaders in the
season's final major.
"It's been hectic," Woods, 21, said, reflecting on
the major events. "Winning one, and then, after that, the
media surge on myself ... it's been unbelievable really - more
than I expected at such a young age. I felt if I played well and
won a few, then this might happen a little later on, down the
road, but not so soon."
Straight ahead for Woods is the World Series of Golf in Akron.
Valderrama, and the Ryder Cup, are next month.
"I lost over in Wales for the Walker Cup," said Woods,
who played on the 1995 entry, "and I want to get it (an international
competition) back."
(c) 1997, New York Daily News.
Visit the Daily New online at http://www.mostnewyork.com/
Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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