Tiger Woods treats the Players as an Augusta
warm-up
By Jack Saylor
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Don't tell former winners Fred -Couples,
Davis Love and Greg -Norman, but the Players Championship is nothing
but a warm-up for the main event - the Masters.
And be sure not to tell PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem,
under whose august direction a purse of $4 million is ponied up
for this four-day birdie bash near Jacksonville (including a very
grand 720 grand to the victor). He thinks the tournament is something
special.
So who is the iconoclast who looks past this event as just
another in the Buick, Nissan, Honda Classic bump-in-the-road to
Augusta?
None other than Tiger Woods.
Certainly, El Tigre can look past the purse - although most
golfers can recall when $4 million was real money. But the Players
Championship presents the best field of any tournament, including
the majors, and the winner gets a five-year tour exemption (it
used to be 10) in addition to the cash.
But Woods looks ahead, as he did a year ago when he played
in the Players for the first time.
"I worked hard on dying my putts at the hole - and if
they went in, great, and if they didn't . . . oh, well, I was
just trying to get ready for the Masters," Tiger said.
The results showed. Woods shot 71-73-72-73-289 and tied for
31st.
Of course, he made the adjustment two weeks later at Augusta
with his historic Masters championship.
But his self-professed goal at the start of any tournament
is to win. How does one concentrate on the job at hand when "warming
up" for the next major down the road?
"I'm just preparing for the major championships,"
he said. "Jack (Nicklaus) did that, all the great players
have done it. They use other tournaments as stepping-stones playing
against the rest of the field as well as preparing by hitting
certain shots and getting ready."
It's a great tactic in horse racing. Trainers use the Florida
or Arkansas derbies to prep for the biggie at Churchill Downs.
But the horse doesn't know which one is the Kentucky Derby.
Can Woods win on Pete Dye's water wonderland course at TPC
Sawgrass while practicing shots that work at Augusta National?
"Yes, I've done that," he said. "I've won the
Western Amateur and U.S. Amateur back-to-back, but it's difficult.
You look at the history of junior golf, amateur golf, there's
really only one tournament - the U.S. Junior or U.S. Amateur,
the USGA tournaments. There are a lot of big tournaments, but
there's only one that really matters, the USGA events.
"Now there are four to peak for, and peaking for four
of them is pretty well an art form. Nicklaus has been the best
at that, it's pretty obvious. Ben Hogan, in his day, was awesome
at it."
So big purse, great field, so-called "fifth major"
aside, Tiger has his priorities in order. And the Masters is where
it's at this time of year.
"I've hit a lot of balls, and Butch (Harmon) and I have
put in a lot of time together, working on a lot of different things,"
Woods said. "I'm hitting the ball much more consistently
than I did last year. I'm controlling my distance well. Look at
my finishes this year. I haven't won on this tour, but I've had
good finishes."
Tiger had two seconds and a third, plus a ninth-place finish
(plus the still-incomplete AT&T at Pebble Beach), until last
week at Orlando's Bay Hills, when he slumped to 13th with a closing
77.
Even without winning, Woods has made $571,100 thus far and
is third on the tour's money list, behind John Huston and Billy
Mayfair.
"But every part of my game can get better," Woods
said. "I'm overall a better package this year."
And if he ever gets to the point where he concentrates fully
on the Players, he might even win here.
DIVOT DIGGINGS: Defending champion Steve Elkington withdrew
Tuesday. He underwent sinus surgery last week and feels he isn't
fully recovered. Stephen Ames moved into the field, which includes
46 of the top 50 in the world rankings. . . .
Only two players have won this title and a major in the same
season - Nicklaus, who won at the original Sawgrass course in
'78 and added the British Open, and Hal Sutton, who won the Players
and PGA championships in 1983.
(c) 1998, Detroit Free Press.
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