How Woods handles adversity will determine
future
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
One of the points veteran players make when asked if Tiger
Woods will dominate the PGA Tour is that he has yet to prove how
he will handle adversity.
Maybe he gets his chance now.
Of course, what passes for a frustrating stretch for Woods
would be a pretty good year for most players. But the last dozen
rounds of golf played by Woods were not up to the standards his
rapid success led fans to take for granted.
After playing 20 of his first 34 rounds this year in the 60s,
Woods has broken 70 only once in his last 12 rounds. That stretch
of mediocrity followed 11 consecutive rounds under par that included
victories at the Masters and the Byron Nelson Classic.
Woods ended a streak of five tournaments in six weeks with
the two worst finishes he has had since his pro debut when he
finished 60th at the Greater Milwaukee Open last September.
His 67th at the Memorial three weeks ago was the worst finish
in his brief pro career and this weekend he was 43rd at the Buick
Classic. Sandwiched between was a 19th-place finish in the U.S.
Open, where he was never really a factor.
"I'm going to be relaxing," Woods said after the
Buick Classic. "I'm not going to pick up a club for a while.
I've had enough golf for a bit. And I'm going to get my mind squared
away and get my focus back."
After a week off, Woods likely will play at the Western Open
near Chicago then take another week off before the British Open.
WORLD RANKINGS
Until this year, only seven players had held the top spot in
the World Golf Rankings since they first appeared in April 1986.
This year alone, four different people have been No. 1 - three
for the first time.
Going into this year, Greg Norman, Bernhard Langer, Seve Ballesteros,
Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Fred Couples and Nick Price were the
only players ranked No. 1.
Norman had been on top for a record 96 consecutive weeks before
he was knocked from the top spot earlier this year by Tom Lehman.
Norman reclaimed No. 1 a week later before being replaced by Tiger
Woods in May.
Woods was replaced as No. 1 over the weekend when Ernie Els
jumped over him after winning the Buick Classic.
"That's quite surprising," Els said. "I don't
know what to say about that. I was struggling for six months and
you win two tournaments and you're No. 1."
Lehman, Couples and Woods are the only Americans ever to hold
the top spot in the rankings.
GROWING OLD GRACEFULLY
Jim Ritts took over the job of LPGA commissioner a year ago
with a list of ambitious goals, and he has been checking them
off one by one.
He eliminated gaps in the schedule by adding more tournaments,
bumped up purses by 19 percent and got more of the game on TV.
Now he has his sights set on adding competitive events for both
younger and older players.
In an interview this week, Ritts listed a developmental tour
- something like the Nike Tour - as a priority. He also spoke
of creating events for older players.
"I will be very surprised if in the next season or two
seasons we do not have significant playing opportunities for veteran
players within the economic realities," Ritts said.
What that seems to mean is that while a full women's senior
tour will not be created in the near future, there will soon be
a series of events - perhaps four majors - for veteran golfers.
With Nancy Lopez, Betsy King, Patty Sheehan, Pat Bradley and
Jan Stephenson all having passed their 40th birthday, the LPGA
certainly could use a way to keep them in the public eye.
WORLD TOUR
The La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., is losing
the season-opening Mercedes Championships to Hawaii after next
year, but it is gaining the new World Championship Series Match
Play Championship.
The new event will be played at La Costa in week eight of the
PGA Tour season in 1999, 2000 and 2002. It will be held outside
the United States in 2001.
In addition to the Match Play Championship, the World Championship
Series will include two stroke-play events, both also starting
in 1999. All three events will have limited fields determined
by the world rankings.
DIVOTS
With his second U.S. Open victory, Ernie Els is the only player
in the world currently under 30 who has won two majors. John Daly,
31, with a PGA and a British Open, is next youngest with two.
Els, 27, is also the youngest person to pass $3 million in career
earnings. Woods, 21, has won $2.2 million in less than a year
on tour. ... Ryder Cup captain Tom Kite thinks five players have
locked up spots on the U.S. team: Woods, Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara,
Brad Faxon and Scott Hoch. Tommy Tolles, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk,
Davis Love III and Steve Jones have the next five guaranteed spots,
but Jeff Maggert at No. 11 and Paul Stankowski at No. 13 have
been coming on. Kite also gets two captain's choices. ... The
two wild-card picks for the European team figure to be interesting
for captain Seve Ballesteros. Jose Maria Olazabal, Nick Faldo
and Jesper Parnevik are not among the top 10 right now. Neither
is Ballesteros. ... John Cook played the first 54 holes of last
year's St. Jude Classic in 189 strokes, a PGA Tour record. ...
Team Argentina was disqualified in the final round of the Golf
Tournament of the Americas when one of its players was spotted
hitting balls on the range during a lightning delay. The team
had a two-stroke lead on the 15th hole at the time of the suspension.
No one can practice during a weather delay.
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