Wednesday, February 28, 2001
New 'threesome' leads tour out of Woods
By JIMMY BURCH
c.2001 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
An unexpected threesome teed up at PGA Tour events throughout
the West Coast swing.
No, we're not talking about the 12th, 13th and 14th alternates
who landed spots in last week's Nissan Open after mass defections
from rank-and-file players thinned the field. We're talking about
intrinsic characteristics that have been sorely lacking on a weekly
basis.
Variety. Drama. Unpredictability.
All of them made unscheduled — but welcomed — appearances
during tournaments on the Left Coast.
Absent for most of two seasons, they provided a stark contrast
to the Power Threesome that overshadowed the 2000 campaign: History,
Dominance and Certainty.
Check the record over the past two months. Nine tournaments, nine
different winners. None of them named Tiger Woods.
Four major scoring records have fallen in 2001, with Woods' fingerprints
nowhere near the flurry of sub-par rounds.
A record-tying six players took part in Sunday's playoff in Los
Angeles, with Woods long gone from Riviera Country Club by the
time the first tie-breaking shot was fired.
At the risk of disappointing golf's new wave of fans who want
the PGA Tour to be an “All Tiger, All the Time” proposition,
this is “exactly” the type of start the tour needed
to build interest heading into the meat-and-potatoes stretch of
the season.
Suddenly, the tour is headed to Florida with the focus on Mark
Calcavecchia, Joe Durant, Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson. All
have won this season, with Calcavecchia (256 total for 72 holes)
and Durant (36 under par for 90 holes) posting numbers previously
unseen on PGA Tour scorecards.
Shining the spotlight on someone besides Woods, who is struggling
with a balky putter after winning 17 times in 1999-2000, is beneficial
for multiple reasons:
— It raises the illusion, if not the likelihood, that someone
will offer Woods a decent challenge in Augusta, Ga., when he seeks
at the Masters Tournament (April 5-8) to become the first professional
golfer in history to win four consecutive major championships.
Nothing sells like legitimate competition, and Tiger needs a foil
in his quest to make history.
— It casts doubt on whether Woods, who ranks 140th among
players in putting (1.795 average), can regain his stroke in time
to survive the linoleum greens of Augusta. Lest anyone forget,
Woods ranked second in putting during his record-setting 2000
season, with three separate stretches of at least 150 holes where
he had no three-putt greens. He has yet to record one of those
stretches in 2001.
— It provides motivation for Woods, who plays his best when
challenged by outsiders. The more the public perceives him to
be vulnerable, the harder he'll work to prove otherwise. And if
Woods makes history (again), the heightened competition underscores
his accomplishment even more.
— It gives commissioner Tim Finchem fresh ammunition to throw
at network executives during TV rights negotiations that could
top $1 billion for the 2003-2006 seasons. Discussions begin this
summer.
The last reason is the biggest, from a long-term perspective.
But all revolve around the fact that other players finally have
begun clearing the bar at the lofty heights set by Woods in 1999-2000.
And that makes the game better, and more interesting, for everyone.
“I think more people have taken notice this year because
every week, every day, there is an incredible score or a great
story or a great finish,” said Love, who leads the money
list with $1,238,400. “I think this was the best West Coast
swing we've had in a long time.”
Without question, it got Woods' attention.
“The overall scores on the tour have gotten better,”
said Woods, who has played five consecutive events without a top-three
finish for the first time since May 1999. “I don't like it
when you have to shoot that low. I'd much rather have it where
you can get rewarded for shooting a 69 or 70.”
Too late, Tiger. You removed that option, as well as most of the
drama, from the PGA Tour by posting a tour-record 67.79 scoring
average last season.
Adding some unpredictability back into the mix simply makes things
more interesting for the rest of us.
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