................Like what we witnessed on The champion League the other day...................................................................................................Ian O'Connor said:AUGUSTA, Ga. - So Tiger Woods shows up at Augusta National Thursday and pulls the wrong muscle on the wrong swing at the wrong time, and promptly parks himself under the old clubhouse oak to announce his retirement.
Here's a question for you: Who's the greatest player of all time?
Are you going with Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods?
I'm going with Tiger Woods. It isn't an easy concession to make. Nicklaus and his family made my life a whole lot easier as I was writing and researching my new book, Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry. Jack gave me five hours on his private jet, and then some.
Tiger gave me 11 minutes in the locker room at Doral, and he spent seven of them searching for a way to end the conversation.
But sentiment can't stand in the way of fact. Woods at his best would've beaten Nicklaus at his best, and I no longer believe Tiger needs to break Jack's record of 18 major championships to prove the point.
If the 32-year-old Woods stays healthy, he's a death-and-taxes lock to get to 19 and beyond, with the smart money on beyond. Tiger posted Jack's records on his childhood walls for a reason. He's planning to do to Nicklaus' No. 18 what Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire did to Roger Maris' No. 61.
Smash it, not pass it. And without the sinister help of some bottled-up friends
Q. You're thinking, I make a couple more putts?
TIGER WOODS: I didn't putt well all week. I was telling Billy over there, I kept dragging the blade. I wasn't releasing it, wasn't getting the overspin like I normally do. Out here if you're not starting the ball perfectly on line, you're not going to make any putts.
Q. What's that a function of, when you're, as you say, dragging the blade?
TIGER WOODS: I've tried to release it, tried to get it going, and tried to hook my putts, tried to do anything to get the thing rolling properly. I just didn't quite have it this week. For some reason on the longer putts I was great. I was able to -- the length of the stroke definitely helps, so on the shorter putts I just kept dragging it.
Q. What about the par-5s? Did you think you were going to be able to get a couple more strokes off there?
TIGER WOODS: There's no doubt. I was probably about a yard off on 2, just barely caught the edge of that bunker there, the only spot you can't put in that right bunker there.
8, I hit it over that hill and I didn't think it was going to check like that.
13, I missed a short one.
15, I had a tough up-and-down but I could have got that one up-and-down.
Q. The par-5s --
TIGER WOODS: No, not with these conditions. You've just got to play them under par each day, and try and sprinkle some more here and there.
Q. Your strength has always been playing for the moment. I just wonder, with all the talk of the Slam, was there anything in your mind about that at all? You were the one, of course, who first presented it and we jumped all over it.
TIGER WOODS: I learned my lesson there with the press. I'm not going to say anything. It's just one of those things when you're out there playing, you couldn't care less. You're trying to win a golf tournament. You're trying to put yourself in position, which I did. I just didn't make the putts I needed to make this entire week. I had the speed right, I just didn't quite get the line right.
Q. How does your putting rank as far as past tournaments?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, last year here. Well, not too many.
Q. I saw you working on the greens last Sunday. Is that something you were working on even then? Were you dragging --
TIGER WOODS: I wasn't, no. It just happened this week.
Q. Just kind of developed?
TIGER WOODS: That's the way it is. Some weeks are like that. You have bad weeks and you have good weeks, and certainly this week was not one of my best.
Q. Talk about playing here Sunday with the lead and having to chase.
TIGER WOODS: Well, with these conditions it's really no different. We're all playing under difficult conditions, and we figured if we shot something in the 60s we're going to be right there with a chance to win and try to put a lot of pressure on Trevor up there. It turns out that would have been the case. But I didn't do my part.
End of FastScripts
Golf will not be the same with Tiger Woods out of action for 4 weeks or more.
Tiger Woods said:
April 25, 2008
Needless to say, I'm a little stir crazy since my knee surgery on April 15. Although I've been through this before and understand the need for patience, I don't enjoy sitting around.
I really don't have a timetable for returning to competition. The doctors have said I should be able to play again in four-to-six weeks, but nothing is certain. I'm just going to do what they tell me to do. At least I'm done with the crutches. I used them last week at Tiger Jam XI in Las Vegas to get around the hotel. Now, I'm wearing a knee brace and hope to start rehabbing soon.
I knew a couple of months ago I was going to have the surgery. The knee has been bugging me for a while. The only decision was do you miss the Masters or play in the Masters? I decided to play. Even if I had won, I still would have had the surgery.
I've definitely been playing in pain, but that's not why I didn't win at Augusta. I just never got comfortable with my putting stroke. As I said after the tournament, I was dragging the putter coming through which meant I couldn't start the ball on line. That's all it takes on those greens. Obviously, it was frustrating because I hit the ball well enough to win. It was just one of those things. I called Trevor Immelman a couple days later to congratulate him. He was on the TV circuit, so I didn't actually talk to him, but I left a voice message. Nobody has ever doubted his ability. He has a beautiful golf swing and it was only a matter of time before he put it all together at a major championship.
The course was very difficult. I didn't hear as many roars as I usually hear, especially on the weekend. It did play like a U.S. Open course, which is fine. But I think the galleries are used to seeing birdies and eagles. On Sunday, the way the wind was blowing, it was tough to make pars. I hear the club might be making some changes next year to give us a break. We'll see what happens.
Tiger Jam XI was a great success. Many thanks to the sponsors, celebrities and fans for helping us raise more than $1.5 million for the Tiger Woods Foundation. Our live and silent auctions were big hits. Hot items were a 2009 Masters trip; a private Royal Canadian Pacific rail cruise; an Olympics package; and a 2008 Buick Enclave.
VAN HALEN put on a great show. Special thanks to David Lee Roth, who personally contributed $100,000 to the Tiger Woods Foundation. I also want to thank the Van Halens - Eddie, Alex and Wolfgang - who donated $100,000 to help our programs.
My sincere thanks to all the fans who have emailed their support and best wishes since my surgery. It means a lot to me. I'll keep you updated on my progress.
Take care.
Tiger
Tiger Woods isn't competing in this week's Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley in suburban Columbus, Ohio, because his surgically repaired knee isn't ready for competition, meaning his first start after finishing second at the Masters will be next month's U.S. Open.
Mark Soltau said:
LA JOLLA, Ca. - Top-ranked Tiger Woods will be paired with second-ranked Phil Mickelson and third-ranked Adam Scott in the first two rounds of the 108th U.S. Open next week at Torrey Pines Golf Course. The trio will start at 8:06 a.m. local time on the first tee Thursday, then begin at 1:36 p.m. off the 10th tee on Friday.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Woods. "The course is in wonderful condition. It should be quite a challenge." The last time Woods and Mickelson were paired together in a U.S. Open was the third round in 1999 at Pinehurst Country Club. Payne Stewart won the tournament, with Woods finishing third.
Woods played a practice round Wednesday at Torrey Pines. Riding in a cart with swing coach Hank Haney, he played 17 holes then picked up his ball just short of the par-5 18th green to avoid waiting cameras. No spectators or media were allowed on the course, which has been closed since May 21.
Woods, a two-time winner of the U.S. Open, hasn't played competitive golf since April 13, when he finished second in the Masters. Two days later, he underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
Woods, who opened 2008 by winning his first four starts, has had great success at Torrey Pines. He has captured six Buick Invitational titles, including four-straight. In January, he romped to an eight-stroke victory.
The course will measure 7,643 yards - 379 yards longer than any previous U.S. Open - and play to a par-71. The par-3 third, 11th and 16th holes will vary in distance each day by 17 to 53 yards, depending on the conditions. There has also been discussion about shortening the 435-yard par-4 14th hole for one round.
Fairways will range from 24 to 33 yards wide. Intermediate rough will be set to 1 ¾ inches and primary rough to 2 ¼ inches. Greens will be set at 13 to 13 ½ feet on the Stimpmeter. Seventy-two of the 156 players are fully exempt, including past champions Woods (2000, 2002), Michael Campbell (2005), Angel Cabrera (2007), Ernie Els (1994, 1997), Jim Furyk (2003), Retief Goosen (2001, 2004), Lee Janzen (1993, 1998) and Geoff Ogilvy (2006). Winners receive a full exemption into the tournament for 10 years.
For the 22nd-consecutive year, the event is a sellout. Approximately 42,500 tickets were sold for each day.
SAN DIEGO (AP) U.S. Open week arrived at Torrey Pines on Monday, when Tiger Woods had to share the city-owned course with fellow competitors and a gallery that grew at every hole.
If anyone didn't realize that Woods had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee two days after the Masters, they wouldn't have known by the way he played the South Course's front nine in a practice round. "He didn't say 'Ow' to me, so it must be good," cracked Bubba Watson, who played with Woods and amateur Jordan Cox from Stanford. The threesome teed off at about 7 a.m. under an overcast sky and with no wind coming off the Pacific Ocean. Woods pulled out after nine holes, spent some time on the putting green and then walked toward the Lodge at Torrey Pines at about 10:15 a.m., accompanied by two San Diego policemen, caddie Steve Williams and swing coach Hank Haney.
Woods didn't speak to reporters.
"He looked good," Haney said. "He'll be OK. No problems so far."
On Wednesday, Woods played his first round of golf since knee surgery, getting in 17-plus holes riding in a cart. He played in solitude that day amid tight security, with no media or spectators allowed on the course. He stopped only when he saw a small group of people with cameras waiting around the 18th green. On Monday, Woods scrambled in and out of bunkers and crushed some drives. He didn't appear to favor his knee.
"I don't think the surgery affected him at all," Cox said. "He's hitting it really, really well right now." Woods didn't hit every fairway. He played mostly tee to green, not bothering to putt out on every hole. The three did spend time chipping and putting toward anticipated pin placements at Torrey Pines, the first city-owned course to host the U.S. Open.
Most of all, he looked fit.
"He's got a whole career to worry about," Watson said. "I don't think he's going to mess it up. That's what he did, he pulled out of Memorial because he felt he wasn't ready, and if he wasn't ready here, he wouldn't show up, no matter what the course was, no matter what the crowd wants, no matter what the media wants. He's not going to end his career on some stupidity."
Woods has been dominating at Torrey Pines dating to his days playing in the Junior World Golf Championships. He's won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines six times, including four straight. "Tiger always plays well," Watson said.
The 20-year-old Cox said his round was "Surreal. Kind of everything I've dreamed of, everything I thought it would be. It's pretty cool, you know, everybody following us around, the clapping. It was a little nerve-racking at the beginning. You just get used to it and just go about your business." Asked what score it would take to win on Sunday, Watson said, "I hope it's whatever I shoot."
After mentioning that the greens could get firmer and faster as the week goes on, Watson added: "Whatever Tiger shoots, normally."
Woods and Phil Mickelson, the Nos. 1 and 2 players in the world, will be paired together for the first two rounds with No. 3 Adam Scott.
Cameron Morfit said:
Senior Writer, GOLF Magazine
Published: June 13, 2008
Concrete Resolve
As Tiger Woods sauntered down the fifth fairway munching an apple at Torrey Pines on Friday, waves of exuberant fans flanking the fairway cheered lustily. It was 5:20 p.m., Woods had birdied three of his last four holes, and every man, woman and child, every hopeless fan and hardened skeptic, understood exactly what was happening.
Playing on a tender, surgically repaired left knee, and walking 18 holes for only the second time in the last two months, Woods fired a 5-under-par 30 on Torrey's front nine for a second-round 68. He finished at 2-under overall, tied with Robert Karlsson and Rocco Mediate one shot behind leader Stuart Appleby at the 108th U.S. Open.
"I felt that if I played well [on] that back nine I could definitely get back to even par for the tournament and I would be right back in the championship," Woods said. "And I started running them in there from everywhere." And in so doing he turned this from a nice gathering on the bluffs into living history.
"Get his apple core!" someone yelled when Woods finished his snack on the fifth hole.
The crowd, estimated at 60,000, couldn't help itself. The world's most famous athlete was doing what it had paid to see, what it had seen so many times on TV, but now he was live, in every sense of the word. And he was doing it on less than two legs. Woods has often said that Torrey Pines fits his eye, and never was that more apparent than on his second nine holes on Friday. He caught a lucky break on the par-4 first hole, where his tee shot came to rest just to the right of the cart path, in a perfect lie, from where he hit a 157-yard 8-iron to the green and made the birdie putt. Thereafter, he didn't miss a shot.
But while the world No. 1 was hitting driver and finding the fairways, No. 2, Phil Mickelson, Woods's playing partner , was swinging his trusty 3-wood and missing mostly left of them. Despite continuing to eschew driver off the tee, Mickelson hit a mere six of 14 fairways for the second straight day and shot a 4-over 75 to drop to 4-over for the tournament, six shots back of Woods and seven off the lead. "I've got to hit balls in the fairway," Mickelson said after missing the short grass for the last time on the par-5 ninth hole and finishing his round with a deflating bogey. "When I do I'm able to play the course effectively. I'm able to make some birdies, make easy pars. When I don't, it's been very tough."
Adam Scott, the third member of the power threesome, shot his second straight 73 and also was at 4-over for the tournament. Playing in easier conditions in the morning, Davis Love III and D.J. Trahan each shot 69 to get to 1-under overall, and were matched at that number by Lee Westwood (71) and Miguel Angel Jimenez, who fired the low round of the tournament, a 5-under 66. Five players, including two-time U.S. Open champion Ernie Els and 2006 U.S. Open winner Geoff Ogilvy, were another shot back at even par, three behind Appleby.
The 18-hole leaders made a quick tumble off the leader board. Overnight co-leader Kevin Streelman made a triple-bogey 6 on the par-3 third hole. He committed two double-bogeys as well in carding a 6-over-par 77 that left him at 3-over total. Eric Axley triple-bogeyed his first hole, dropping off the leader board even faster than Streelman, and the other overnight co-leader, Justin Hicks, was 6-over in his first eight holes.
With the co-leaders going in the wrong direction, Love and Trahan made the morning's biggest moves. That Trahan would play so well came as something of a surprise, given his mediocre record at the Buick Invitational, also played at Torrey Pines. Putting is usually his bugaboo, and this municipal course on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific is beloved more for its scenic views than its sometimes bumpy greens.
"I've never really looked forward to the Buick," Trahan said. "I've played it because I'm already on the West Coast. I took the attitude [this week] that this'll probably be my last time coming here, so I'd try to make the best of it."
Trahan took advantage of relatively calm conditions and an absence of wind in his first nine holes. He birdied the eighth and ninth to make the turn in 33, then played the back nine in even par. He missed a five-foot birdie putt on 18 to end his round.
Els, 38, won the Honda Classic earlier this year but has gone quiet since working with swing guru Butch Harmon. He won the U.S. Open in 1994 and '97, and despite some gripes about the greens late Thursday afternoon (after they had been trampled by most of the 156-man field) he liked his chances for a third title this weekend. Of course he was speaking well before Woods made his move and reminded all in attendance that even though he's playing on a bad wheel, and this is not the same course he's won on in the past, golf is still golf, and Tiger is still Tiger.
T.J. Auclair said:PGATOUR.COM Interactive Producer
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The fans were raucous; part golf gallery, part rock concert crowd. They climbed up trees, they made plenty of noise and they followed this week's Supergroup like the bulls at Pamplona, stampeding to holes with the kind of gusto normally reserved for Marines.
But late in the day Friday, one man got serious. Dead-aim serious. After all the hype, all the fun spinning off from the pairing of the world's top three players, Tiger Woods found his game face and got down to business. Result? A five-birdie, no-bogey 30 on his final nine holes Friday, his best nine-hole stretch at a major in 10 years.
That's serious.
Woods knows what it takes to win a major championship. Heck, he's won 13 of them. Everyone gave him a pass after Thursday's 1-over 72. It's the surgically repaired left knee, we said. Cut him some slack, he hasn't played in two months, we reasoned. However, Tiger didn't become Tiger by making excuses. His mind and his will are tougher than trigonometry, as he demonstrated by shooting a 3-under 68 on Friday that left him at 2-under, tied for second going into the weekend. "I actually just kept patient," Woods explained -- and all this time we thought Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson was the Zen Master. "I was trying to get back to even par for the tournament. ... All of a sudden (putts) started flying in from everywhere."
And if he keeps it up? Well, that doesn't bode well for the rest of the field.
Woods, along with Rocco Mediate and Robert Karlsson, is one shot behind tournament leader Stuart Appleby. The Australian has been near the top in majors before but has never closed the deal.