 |
| |||
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Blast From The Past With a pair of scorching rounds in the Buick, Tiger Woods found the magic that's been missing from his gameBy Jaime Diaz
Golf has been waiting, a little impatiently, for the old Tiger Woods to show up. The Tiger Woods who was so hardwired for victory that he won with his C game, who willed in every big putt and who used Jack Nicklaus as a measuring stick. But for the past year and a half golf has been seeing another Woods, one who insists he's a better player but who doesn't score as well, who gets outplayed at crunch time, who misses six-footers with startling regularity, who no longer says "second place sucks" and, worst of all, who may have thought not having to be so damn good would be a big relief. That was a different Woods from the player who won six times in his first 10 months as a pro. The new Woods produced a listless defense in the 1998 Masters, finishing six shots behind winner Mark O'Meara in an event he won by 12 strokes the year before. He had only one PGA Tour victory since July '97 and a dismal 3-6-1 record in the Ryder and Presidents Cups. This Woods was also passed by David Duval -- in the minds of his peers and the public, if not the World Ranking -- as golf's top player. Although this latter-day Woods remained the most consistent high finisher and charismatic figure in the game, he fell far short of expectations. Some observers began to wonder whether his career would turn out to be a major disappointment. Woods, 23, considers such hair-trigger assessments so much bunk. "I've got a very long road ahead of me," he says. "I know I'm on the right track, but sometimes it takes longer to show than you'd like." Coming into last week's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, Calif., Woods also recognized that his standing in golf circles was in need of some rehabilitation. Prodded by a new urgency and employing his old sense of the moment, he exploded on the weekend to produce a most timely victory. On the same course where he won six Optimist International Junior World titles between ages eight and 15, Woods drew on a simpler past to reestablish his promise. With boyhood friend Bryon Bell on his bag instead of his regular caddie, Mike (Fluff) Cowan, Woods overpowered the par-5s in 16 under par, used only 109 putts and shot 62-65 on the weekend. Inspired by an entourage of supporters led by his mother, Kultida -- who walked the final 18 with her son despite recent reconstructive surgery on her left knee -- Woods put an exclamation mark on his performance with a closing eagle, giving him a 72-hole 266, 22 under par and two strokes better than Billy Ray Brown. Coming into La Jolla, Woods had given little warning that he was on the verge of something big. He had been trounced by Duval at the season-opening Mercedes Championships, tying for fifth; had faltered at key junctures while coming in third at Phoenix; and had been abysmal at Pebble Beach, where he tied for 53rd. At Torrey Pines, Woods struggled with his iron play on the first two days and made the cut almost solely because of an uncharacteristically hot putter. But after starting the third round nine strokes off the lead, Woods stunned the field with a 62 -- the South Course record at Torrey Pines and Woods's lowest round as a pro. He passed 41 players, took a one-stroke lead, and showed everyone how he can take a tournament and shake it by the neck. Still, Woods had to close the deal on Sunday, something he hadn't done since winning the BellSouth Classic last May. His face an impassive mask, Woods opened the final round with three birdies on the first four holes. But a revitalized Brown -- he finished 201st on the money list last year -- stayed with him shot for shot. When Brown birdied the 16th to pull even with Woods, it looked as if the 35-year-old journeyman would become the latest golfer to beat Tiger head-to-head, joining Costantino Rocca ('97 Ryder Cup), Billy Mayfair ('98 Nissan Open), O'Meara ('98 British Open and World Match Play), Nick Price ('98 Million Dollar Challenge) and Rocco Mediate (last month's Phoenix Open). That's when Woods came up with the magic that had been missing from his game. After pulling his approach into deep rough to the left of the 17th green, he saved par with an expertly gouged sand-wedge shot. Then, after Brown had bombed a drive down the middle on the 498-yard par-5 18th, Woods carved a high, hard slider 320 yards down the left side of the fairway. When Brown finally cracked and laid the sod over his four-iron second shot, Woods flushed his seven-iron from 177 yards to within 10 feet of the hole. Needing a two-putt to win, he holed the eagle putt in a style that was evocative of the way Duval closed out his historic 59 last month at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. With that putt the battle golf has been waiting for was joined in earnest. Duval ($1,091,900 in '99) and Woods ($791,120) are one-two on the money list and two-one in the World Ranking. The latter was a source of irritation for those who felt that Duval's nine victories in his last 29 Tour events, dating back to October '97, should make him No. 1 by a mile. Duval and Woods are scheduled to play in this week's Nissan Open at Riviera and at next week's 64-man Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship, an event that could produce a dream final if each player can get through his half of the draw. Chances are they will also be co-favorites at Augusta, where Duval tied for second last year after leading by three shots with three holes to play. If the rivalry blossoms, it could be one of the best ever. Woods and the 27-year-old Duval are young, hungry and good enough to knock heads for a decade or more. Both are single, play the same Tour and, most important, work hard to be the best. There is little that separates these two power players. Woods is longer off the tee, while Duval is straighter, with the added advantage that, like Nicklaus, he almost never hooks the ball. Duval is better with the irons, with Woods still fighting to gain consistent distance control with short irons. Woods is a more creative escape artist and better with the flashy short-game shots, while Duval is the steadier pitcher and chipper. On the greens Woods can get on a roll, but Duval is more consistent. As a competitor Woods may have the edge. He put together a superior match-play record while winning three U.S. Juniors and three U.S. Amateurs, and the Buick marked the fifth straight time as a pro that Woods has converted a third-round lead into a victory. (His only loss from such a position came in 1996 at Quad Cities, his third start as a pro.) By contrast Duval, who finished second seven times before getting his first victory, is only four for nine when leading after three rounds. His 59, though, is considered one of the greatest final rounds ever shot, in large part because he made up seven shots on the leader and won the tournament. Until Sunday, Duval had been the more confident player. It is not Woods's nature to show vulnerability, but in recent months he has admitted lacking confidence on the greens. Left unsaid is the erosion of his concentration and enthusiasm by the constant demands of his celebrity. "I think his life got so crazy after the Masters that it became more comfortable for him to unconsciously contend but not win," says a close friend of Woods's. "Maybe with that he lost a little intensity and work ethic. The best thing to get him out of that has been the play of David Duval." Bell, who has known Woods since they were seventh-graders at Orange View Junior High in Anaheim, saw a difference in his friend from the last time he had caddied for him -- in Woods's win at the 1996 U.S. Amateur. "He hits the ball a lot shorter, especially with his irons, and under more control," says Bell. "But I saw something else in Tiger that I'd never seen before: He always used to think he could win, he prepared to win, and he won. He hasn't always been able to do that as a pro, and for the first time, I sensed he had some doubt in his own ability. I've never really had to encourage Tiger, but I felt like I had to this week. I told him, 'You are so talented that if you play well, there's no one who can beat you. Now go out and put up a number.' He shot 62." Woods denies that he's had a crisis of confidence and agrees that Duval's emergence has been a plus for him because it has taken away some of the spotlight. But he does not say Bell is wrong. "I respect Bryon more as a friend than as a caddie," says Woods. "He knows my game, but more important, he knows me." So does Tida Woods, who was smiling through her pain on Sunday evening as she hugged her son on the 18th green. "Mom, are you all right?" Tiger asked. "I'm all right as long as you win," Tida said. That's the way a lot of people see it, and after Woods's victory at Torrey Pines they -- and he -- felt a lot better. Issue date: February 22, 1999
|
