Thursday, July 6, 2000
Rested Woods makes first appearance
since U.S. Open victory
By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer
LEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Great. This is
just what the rest of the PGA Tour needs.
Tiger Woods would be intimidating enough
in his first tournament after his record-shattering 15-stroke
victory at the U.S. Open three weeks ago. Now he's rested after
a couple of weeks off and ready to play one of his favorite courses
when the Western Open begins Thursday.
“Do we have to raise the level of our
games? Absolutely,” Jeff Sluman said. “What's great
about golf is we're all starting out even this week and maybe
somebody can go out there and beat him. ... That's the challenge
of this game, to try and go out there and use your 14 clubs a
little better than maybe he can this week.”
Good luck, because the way Woods is playing
lately, it doesn't look as if anyone can catch him. He set records
no one dreamed possible when he won the U.S. Open last month,
finishing 12-under while no one else even managed to break par.
His 15-stroke victory was the largest ever
in a major championship, surpassing the 13-stroke victory by Old
Tom Morris in the 1862 British Open.
“I had a great week,” Woods said
Wednesday. “Now, if I can play at that level for a year,
two, three, five, 10, something like that, then that will be saying
something. I had it one other time, which was at Augusta.
“But to have it consistently, that's
what we strive for. And that's what I'm trying to do. But it's
not the easiest thing to do.”
He's coming close, though. His victory in
the U.S. Open was his 12th in his last 21 tour events, and the
14th in his last 25 tournaments worldwide. A victory in the British
Open this month would give him a career Grand Slam — at just
24, two years younger than Jack Nicklaus was when he accomplished
the feat.
But those are just so many statistics to
Woods. All that matters to him is what happens this week.
“It's great having that great week,
but then again it's just one week and it's in the past. It's done
and it's over with,” he said. “The key is to keep trying
as hard as you possibly can and not get into, I guess, the media
version of trying to top this because, in essence, you really
don't try and do that. You're just trying to win the tournament.”
The Western Open is sponsored by Advil.
The Western field also includes Masters
winner Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson, who's already won three
times this season. Steve Stricker, who won the Western in 1996,
and Mike Weir, who played with Woods on Sunday last year, are
back, too.
But whether Woods wants to admit it or not,
he's the overwhelming favorite this week.
First there's his history at Cog Hill Golf
and Country Club, site of the Western Open. He's won the tournament
twice in the last three years, and his victory in 1997 provided
one of golf's most enduring images when thousands of fans broke
through the ropes to follow him up the 18th fairway.
He made his first cut in a PGA Tour event
at the 1995 Western Open, and then went on to break 70 for the
first time in the fourth round.
“I love Cog Hill,” he said. “Every
one of these tee shots just looks right. It just kind of looks
good to my eye. I guess that's one of the reasons I have driven
the ball well here, I've played well. And I've had good results.
“Even when I was an amateur I played
well here. I just have always loved this golf course.”
Then there's the rest factor. Woods hasn't
played since winning the Open. In fact, there was a 10-day stretch
when he didn't even touch a club. Just left them sitting there
on the floor in his traveling bag.
He's played five other tournaments this
season after taking a week or more off. He won three of them.
While Woods' recent dominance has left everyone
else playing for second, there's no backlash among his fellow
players. Those who hadn't seen him since Pebble Beach sought him
out this week to congratulate him.
“I don't know how you could ever be
tired of watching greatness in front of you. It's truly phenomenal,”
Sluman said. “I've got a 2-year-old. I can probably tell
her when she finally understands how great Tiger Woods was that
I played with him and competed against him. I think it's great.”
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