Tuesday, September 12, 2000
Tiger Woods: a masterpiece still in the
making
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
OAKVILLE, Ontario (AP) — Earl Woods first uttered the words
six years ago, when his son was on the verge of losing in the
finals of the U.S. Amateur. Between the morning and afternoon
rounds, he whispered in his ear, “Let the legend grow.”
These days, the legend of Tiger Woods is on steroids.
“The great thing about Tiger is that he's always, always
going to hang in there and come up with a great shot when he needs
it,” said Grant Waite, who had a front-row seat to Woods'
latest heroics Sunday in the Canadian Open.
This one was no less spectacular, a shot that only Woods dares
to try.
Clinging to a one-stroke lead on the par-5 18th at Glen Abbey,
he was in a fairway bunker 218 yards from the hole, the final
100 yards over water. The ball came off crisp and clean, rocketed
into the gray sky and dropped 18 feet behind the flag.
“With the tournament on the line, to have the poise and the
calm and the confidence to stand there and hit that shot explains
basically what Tiger is all about,” said Waite, who finished
one stroke behind when his 20-foot eagle putt curled off at the
end.
“He really doesn't have to say anything. That explains pretty
much what kind of a person and a golfer he is,” Waite said.
“He is very special.”
Woods has been that way all year.
It began in Hawaii, the first tournament of the year, with an
eagle-birdie-birdie finish to defeat Ernie Els in a playoff. Every
week that followed gave Woods another opportunity to outdo himself,
and he almost always delivered.
There was that 97-yard wedge he holed from the fairway, the catalyst
to his seven-stroke comeback at Pebble Beach for his sixth straight
PGA Tour victory, the longest streak in 52 years. Four months
later, he hit a 6-iron from out of thick rough, over a cliff and
onto the par-5 sixth green during his 15-stroke romp at Pebble
to win the U.S. Open.
He won the career Grand Slam at St. Andrews, and made it three
straight majors at the PGA Championship. He has won in the rain
at Memorial, in darkness at Firestone.
How does he do it?
“Guys pull off some of the best plays and best shots, best
competitive performances, when the pressure is on because that's
when they concentrate the hardest,” Woods said after winning
Sunday.
That's why the legend grows.
Earl Woods was watching the final round from his home in Cypress,
Calif., and admitted to be a little shocked that his son could
take the ball right at the flag.
“But it didn't surprise me that he pulled it off,” the
father said. “He's that good, and he's always been that good.
He has this ability to see things with his creative mind, and
then he has the physical ability to execute the shot. Some have
a creative mind but can't do it. Tiger sees it and he does it.
And he does it well. That's the difference.”
Such dramatics are not limited to this year.
When his father told him to “let the legend grow,” Woods
went out and birdied the last three holes of the '94 U.S. Amateur
on the TPC at Sawgrass, including an all-or-nothing shot into
the island-green 17th for a birdie and a 1-up advantage.
He won his record three straight U.S. Amateur titles by making
a 40-foot birdie putt on the next-to-last hole to tie the match
against Steve Scott, then beat him in extra holes.
Adding to the theater are the crowds Woods attracts — about
50,000 at Glen Abbey Golf Club, the largest in the 96-year history
of the Canadian Open. The Buick Open galleries were double the
size because Woods was playing.
Everywhere he goes, the gallery packs each fairway as if at a
major championship. Rarely do they go home disappointed.
“In every tournament, he'll hit shots that people will be
talking about for 30 years,” his father said.
There were two of them in the Canadian Open. The 6-iron on the
final hole Sunday, and the 380-yard drive on the same hole Friday,
which left Woods only a 60-degree wedge for his second shot. On
a par 5.
The heroics will cease for the next five weeks. His summer run
into history is over. Woods will not return until the Presidents
Cup next month, then play the final three PGA Tour events of the
year. He is defending champion in all of them.
How much better can he get? How many more times can he win?
How many shots does he have left in the bag?
“What we're doing is witnessing Rembrandt paint, and we're
all marveling at him mixing paint and brushing strokes,”
Earl Woods said. “The more you watch, the more you appreciate
his talent. And every week, you see a move with the brush you
had never seen before. And the painting starts to come to life,
more and more and more.
“It is still unfinished.”
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