Woods returns to Byron Nelson to much less
fanfare
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Greatness is not supposed to come easy.
The journey is as defining as the deeds. And it could be that
the long, strange trip of Tiger Woods is giving him the experience
to go with the talent.
A year ago, the Tiger Express rolled into the GTE Byron Nelson
Classic off a victory over the best in the game at the Masters
and was wrapped in words like "the biggest, the fastest,
the first, the youngest, the best."
On Tuesday, he strolled into the Four Seasons Resort and Club
coming off a struggling victory at the BellSouth Classic over
Jay Don Blake, Steve Flesh and Esteban Toledo.
"I wish my win last week was three weeks before,"
Woods said, referring to the Masters, where he finished eighth
this year.
Gone was the near-hysteria that surrounded Tigermania at its
peak. Suddenly, what seemed unimaginable in the dizzy days after
the 1997 Masters, might be true: Greatness will be something Woods
will have to work for.
It's something Woods has known all along. But it is something
that his adoring fans are learning reluctantly to accept.
A year ago, 27 TV cameras jammed into the media room at the
Byron Nelson. There was standing room only as more than 300 reporters
struggled for space.
On Tuesday, a more modest nine TV cameras were on hand and
about 50 people milled in the press room, only about half of whom
were journalists.
While the tournament is sold out and has been for weeks, the
atmosphere is much more that Woods is just one of many good, young
players on hand rather than the only good, young player.
If the struggle to win at the BellSouth and the return to reality
in his greeting at the Byron Nelson should tell Woods anything
it is that for Tigermania to remain manic he will have to win.
And right now, Woods seems to be defining winning almost exclusively
in terms of the four major championships.
"It's very simple," he said about his goals for the
rest of this year. "I would like my game to peak three more
times. That's about it."
Certainly, having his game in top form for the U.S. Open in
June, the British Open in July and the PGA Championship in August
is an admirable goal. But assuming he can turn his game on and
off that easily -- flipping the switch to high for the majors
-- might be a mistake.
"I play these tournaments, one, for fun and also to play
golf and just compete," Woods said, almost dismissing the
Byron Nelson as a practice round for the three majors yet to come
this year.
"But also I know that I like to have my game peak at the
right time, just like I did last year at the Masters," he
said.
It might be that the best way to have his game peak for the
majors would be to play a little more often.
When Woods finished his hectic 1997 season he said he was convinced
that four at the most and much more likely three tournaments was
all he could handle playing in a row.
Because Woods played the BellSouth last week, the Byron Nelson
this week and most likely will be at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament
at the end of May, it seems highly unlikely he will play the Colonial
next week in nearby Fort Worth.
And that's a shame. It will be the first Colonial since the
death of Ben Hogan in Fort Worth. Everyone should be there.
Woods, as is his practice, won't let anyone know until the
Friday deadline if he is playing the Colonial.
Next year, the BellSouth is moving to the week before the Masters.
Because Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational and the Players
Championship precedes it and the Masters follows it, it seems
unlikely that Woods will play and go into Augusta working on a
fourth consecutive tournament -- unless he changes his notion
about how many weeks in a row he can play.
And that would be a shame. Defending champions should show
up.
Woods is the defending champion this week at the Byron Nelson,
and if he is to keep that title he will have to defeat a field
that includes Ernie Els, Justin Leonard, Mark O'Meara, Jim Furyk
and Phil Mickelson.
It might not be a major, but it is a PGA Tour event -- and
that's pretty darn good.
Asked who the best player in the world was right now, Woods
paused and said: "I really don't know. You have to ask the
public that."
And the best place he can pose the question is in tournaments.
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