Tuesday, November 9, 1999
A shudder runs through golf: Woods could
get better
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
SOTOGRANDE, Spain (AP) — Tiger Woods broke into a wide
grin when asked how he could possibly top this year — a major
championship, eight titles on the tour, $6 million in winnings
and a Ryder Cup victory for good measure.
Then he turned serious.
“I can promise you, I will continue to work,” he said.
While the rest of the PGA Tour goes home for the winter to digest
Woods' latest win of the just-concluded season, he will continue
with three tournaments in the Pacific that could determine how
long he can keep his amazing streak alive.
The 23-year-old won his fourth consecutive tournament Sunday in
the American Express Championship, the most since Ben Hogan won
four straight in 1953.
After a clinic Monday at Valderrama Golf Club, Woods was off to
Taiwan to defend his title in the Johnnie Walker Classic. After
that, he heads to Malaysia to play in the World Cup with Mark
O'Meara. The week after, he winds his way to Hawaii for the PGA
Grand Slam of Golf.
As far as consecutive victories on the PGA Tour, he won't be able
to build on that until the Mercedes Championship at the start
of next year.
For a player who became golf's first $6 million man after winning
eight times this year — the most since Johnny Miller won
eight in 1974 — Woods was relatively subdued after his playoff
victory over Miguel Angel Jimenez at Valderrama.
One reason for that is his work is not done — and not just
the three tournaments in the next three weeks.
He is a work in progress. The scary thing is, the work is just
beginning.
Where will that lead? The possibilities are endless. Woods has
won eight out of his 11 tournaments, including a victory against
a world-class field in Germany in May. Since then, his worst finish
was in the Sprint International, a tie for 37th, the week after
winning the PGA Championship.
“To play week after week, and then to win on top of that,
it is draining,” he said. “It was a great way to end
the year. And hopefully, next year I'll play the same type of
golf and we'll see about the number of victories, but see if I
can continue to improve.”
The turning point came in May, the week before the Byron Nelson
Classic, when all the refinements he has made in his swing the
past 18 months finally started to make sense.
Since then, his highest round has been a 74 — and that includes
the U.S. Open and British Open. Twenty-three of his 40 rounds
have been in the 60s. That's a far cry from his spring, when he
went 15 consecutive rounds without breaking 70.
“It was just a matter of time,” he said. “I had
to be patient and work at my own game so that when it came round,
I could start winning tournaments. When it came together, I felt
I could start winning.”
The final round of the first American Express Championship will
be remembered for Woods making triple bogey on No. 17, where he
hit shots like Hogan and got a result like Jean Van de Velde.
Leading by one stroke, his ball slithered off the green and into
the water, and Woods was somewhat fortunate to walk off the green
with an 8. Even more fortunate for him was that Jimenez fell to
pieces twice on the 18th hole.
Still, Sunday's finish at Valderrama may have overshadowed the
real reason why Woods is on golf's best streak in 46 years.
Along with his tremendous talent, Woods has a wide selection of
shots and good sense when to use them. That means he will be a
factor in just about every tournament he plays, and there has
been proof of that the past six months.
He struck a 9-iron all of 100 yards on the 17th. True, he hitting
was into the wind and the ball eventually wound up in the water,
but Woods' took two extra clubs to take spin off the ball and
try to keep it on the green. Except for a tricked-up green, the
shot would have been perfect.
He hit a 6-iron from 156 yards — not exactly the macho distance
he can pound his middle irons, but a smart shot into a severe
crosswind on the 14th that set up another birdie. He knocked down
a 3-wood off the 10th tee into more crosswinds for a perfect angle
into the green, yet another birdie.
He also went high and long, an 8-iron from 196 yards on the par-3
12th for an 8-foot birdie.
How good was Woods on Sunday? Until he caught a couple of bad
breaks, he was headed for a 7-under 64. That would have been more
than 11 strokes better than the rest of the field.
“Mind boggling,” Jim Furyk said.
“You can't believe how good that round is,” Lee Westwood
added.
Nick Price, who played behind Woods on Sunday, said a 64 at Valderrama
under those conditions would have been one of the greatest rounds
ever played.
Even Woods, a harsh critic of himself, seems genuinely pleased.
“It does make it more satisfying because I played a great
round of golf today,” he said.
Whether he can keep it up, or for how long, could determine whether
anyone else has a chance.
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