For Woods, this week was the longest year
AKRON, Ohio – Tiger Woods, wearing his Sunday victory outfit – red shirt (striped this time) and black slacks -- pulled himself together and cracked a little joke. A little one was all he could find the strength for. (First, understand that this is one surreal picture. You have to rewind one of Salvador Dali’s melting watches to get it straight.)
Woods was speaking from Firestone Country Club, in Akron, after the final round of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, and was headed forthwith for Whistling Straits, near Milwaukee, site of this week’s PGA Championship. He was asked whether he was going right out on the course to practice tomorrow.
“No, not tomorrow,” Woods said. “I’m out there today. I could probably play 18 and still watch the guys finish.”
That was the little joke. On himself, that is. This was the Dali thing about it: Woods had finished the final round hours before the leaders had even teed off. There is only one way for this to happen. Woods, No. 1 for nearly ever but struggling this year after all the sex scandals, had finally broken down completely. Woods was like a fugitive from “Caddyshack.” Golf’s mightiest machine had just gone clank. He had finished some six hours before the leaders, Ryan Palmer and Sean O’Hair, even teed off, and was hitting the road. It’s only something over an hour, flying time, Akron to Milwaukee. He just might get in 18 and catch some of the Bridgestone.
It had been a lousy week for Woods. He finished it off with a 77.
Woods’ card tells the tale: On the par-70 Firestone South, where he had won seven of the last 10 times, he shot 74-72-75-77 – 298, 18 over.
“Shooting 18 over par is no fun,” Woods said. “I don’t see how it can be fun, shooting 18 over.”
He tied for 78th in the 80-man field. Hats off to Sweden’s Henrik Stenson. Stenson shot 75 without a birdie, and saved Woods from being dead last.
Did his performance surprise him?
“No, it doesn’t surprise me at all, actually,” he said.
Did it shock him?
“No, no.”
Woods’ numbers will be right up there with his 14 majors: The 298 was Woods’ highest ever in a PGA Tour event, even as an amateur. It was his first time over par since the 2003 PGA Championship. He made bogey or worse on 25 of the 72 holes, another personal record. He made 22 bogeys, three double bogeys, and a mere 10 birdies. Among other amazing stuff.
Some days the driver doesn’t work, some days the irons, or the wedge, maybe the putter. Everything has broken down on Woods. But he can count his blessings. It could have been worse. Hit a tree here, a tree there, a TV tower, and bounce back into play. Even so, he put on a show that would send a guy back down to the minors. He hit 36 percent of the fairways, and 49 percent of the greens, and was 3-for-11 in saving par out of the sand.
Woods had been excited about his game, especially bringing his erratic driving to heel. He came into the week saying he’d been driving it on a string. Then he got here. “I didn’t drive it at all this week,” he said. “My irons weren’t very good again, and I made nothing.”
Worse, there was no real consistency, no pattern to his erratic play – no symptom for him to work from. He’s a lost soul. Some tee shots were wide right, some were left. In putting, lip-outs would have been golden. Even on 4- and 5-footers, he was missing by an inch or more, mostly on the left, but some on the right.
“He’s not the regular Tiger we’re used to seeing,” said Anthony Kim, his playing partner in the last round. Kim was playing his first golf in three months, after having ligament surgery on his left thumb. He finished with a 76 and two better than Woods. “He’s had a lot of stuff going on, and he’s dealing with that,” Kim said. “That’s more important than golf. Because I think golf is an easy thing to do once your personal life is straightened out. And I’m sure it’s going to happen soon for him.”
The consensus is that rust had built up on Woods’ game since he went into exile after the Thanksgiving Night Massacre. This was only his eighth start of the year. His best finishes were ties for fourth in the Masters, his first outing, and the U.S. Open. Nothing else was close. If he’s concerned, perhaps it’s because rust is supposed to wear off, not build up. He’s gotten worse, not better, as the season rolls on. What will it take to turn things around?
“I need to hit the ball better,” said Woods. “I need to chip better. I need to putt better, and I need to score better.”
Why, someone wondered, wasn’t he surprised by his play?
“It’s been a long year,” Woods said.
Do you think it’s more mental?
“It’s been a long year.”
For Tiger Woods, this week was the longest year.
Notes and Quotes from Bridgestone:
Mickelson put on show that Woods had to love
Tiger Woods, after bombing out at Firestone, said he might be able to play a practice round at Whistling Straits, near Milwaukee, and still catch part of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Must have loved the show.
Not so much Hunter Mahan outdueling Ryan Palmer down the stretch. The part where Phil Mickelson is on the verge of taking over No. 1 in the world rankings and flops.
With Woods’ final-round 77 and a tie for 78th, Mickelson needed to finish solo fourth or better to become No. 1, breaking Woods’ five-year reign. But Mickelson shot 78 and tied for 46th.
So Woods is No. 1 for 270 consecutive weeks, and a total of 611, and Mickelson is No. 2 for a total of 258. Mickelson said he could eventually get ahead Woods if he keeps finishing ahead of him. But …
“But the problem is, there’s guys behind me who will pass me because I’m not playing well enough right now,” he said.
DID IT SHOW? Said Mickelson: “It was a rough day if you couldn’t tell. I felt good on the range, I hit some good shots. I felt like I was sharp and ready to go attack the golf course, and it just didn’t happen. I don’t know what to say.”
STRICKER ON WOODS – “It’s very surprising,” Steve Stricker said, of Woods’ poor play. “But in this game, you need to give total attention and total focus. We all know he’s got a lot of other things going on in his life right now, and golf is hard for him now. You need some positive thoughts and a clear mind. He probably doesn’t have that right now, but he’ll get it. I’ve got no worries that he’ll find it again.”
HANDICAPPING NEWS – Question to Hunter Mahan: “Did you ever think you’d beat Tiger Woods by 30?”
Mahan: “I would say no.”
TOURNAMENT TOLL – Firestone’s 471-yard, par-4 No. 4 played the toughest all week, averaging 4.258, and as usual, No. 2, 526-yard par-5, was the easiest, 4.602. No. 2 gave up 138 birdies, and the 667-yard 16th was next with 80.
Adam Scott (67) scored the first eagle in tournament history at No. 4, holing out his fairway shot from 166 yards. Kenny Perry (71) slam-dunked a 177-yard fairway shot for an eagle at the par-four No. 6.
BITS AND PIECES – Before Sunday’s final round, only four players reached the monster 16th in two since 2003, but this time, with the hole playing at 667 yards, five players reached it – Retief Goosen, Ryo Ishikawa, Rory McIlroy, Lucas Glover and Boo Weekley; all two-putted for birdie … the only time Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have shot 77 or higher in the same round was in the third round of the 1998 British Open.
Return to Man About Golf archives