Thursday, November 4, 1999
Tiger against the World in tour finale
By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press
SOTOGRANDE, Spain — Along the winding Mediterranean coast
toward Valderrama are several billboards of a larger-than-life
photo of Tiger Woods, eyes peering down as he invites one and
all to meet him for the final World Golf Championship event.
That’s about what it comes down to this week.
The American Express Championship, which begins today on the
course where Woods had the greatest setback of his career, is
more of a world challenge than a world championship.
Even in a field of 62 top players from the five major PGA Tours
around the globe, the challenge has never been so succinct.
Can anyone beat Woods?
Recent history suggests otherwise. Since winning the last WGC
event in August, Woods has played only two tournaments and won
them both, including a four-stroke margin last week in the Tour
Championship against the 28 top money-winners on the PGA Tour.
A victory this week at Valderrama Golf Club would make him
the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win four straight
tournaments, and the first to win eight PGA Tour-sanctioned events
in one season since Johnny Miller in 1974.
If the pressure is mounting, Woods seems impervious to it.
“I go to every tournament to try to win, regardless of
what the expectation of the public is,” Woods said. “And
this year, I’ve done a pretty good job of accomplishing my
goals. Hopefully, this week I can do it again.”
Already, players are lining up to take their best shot.
The player all of Spain would love to see take down Woods is
19-year-old Sergio Garcia, a two-time winner who put a major scare
into Woods in the PGA Championship.
Colin Montgomerie considers himself just as much a favorite,
especially on this track. He won the Volvo Masters here in 1993,
and three times he has won the European money list because of
a solid final round at Valderrama.
“It brings back good memories every time I play here,”
said Montgomerie, a six-time winner on the European tour this
year. “It’s a course that does suit me, and I stand
on the first tee very, very confident on this course.”
Still, Montgomerie is the first to agree that Woods is clearly
playing on a different level than everyone else.
“It’s quite phenomenal,” the Scotsman said.
The last time Montgomerie played Valderrama was in the Ryder
Cup two years ago, picking up 3¤ points in a European victory
— a week Woods might just as soon forget.
Having won the Masters in record fashion, plus three other
PGA Tour events to rise to No. 1 in the world, Woods went 1-3-1
in the Ryder Cup and lost a pivotal singles match to former factory
worker Costantino Rocca.
But that came at a time, Woods points out, when he was in the
middle of rebuilding his swing. He returns to Valderrama with
incredible credentials and a swing that is becoming more natural
with every week.
The presence of Woods has received about as much attention
as the absence of so many other top players. David Duval, Greg
Norman, Mark O’Meara and Fred Couples are among those who
decided to stay home this week.
Davis Love III almost joined them until he worked out a glitch
in his swing and received a good report on his arm and shoulder.
Love, who arrived Wednesday morning, has won at least once
every year but 1994 this decade. Last week was such a blur as
he tried to cope with Payne Stewart’s death in a plane crash
that only when he read the newspaper Monday morning did it sink
in that he finished second to Woods in Houston.
“I’m excited about playing,” he said.
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