Playing or not, Tiger still a topic as his event begins in Philly
The AT&T National gets under way Thursday with most of the pre-tournament attention focused on the one man who wont be playing this week as opposed to the invitational field of 120 golfers focused on a $6.2 million purse and a $1.11 million champions check.
Tiger Woods signature event on the PGA Tour will be missing its host with the announcement last Wednesday that he would not be playing while he continues to rehabilitate his wounded left knee and Achilles tendon. On Tuesday, Woods said he has no timetable for his return to competitive golf, though it seems highly likely hell skip the British Open in two weeks at Royal St. Georges.
Defending champ Justin Rose thinks Tiger will win again but figures why not take advantage while he isnt? (AP) Woods has only played nine holes since the Masters, shooting a 42 at The Players and walking off the course because of his injuries. In the weeks since, and in the wake of Rory McIlroys immensely popular victory at the U.S. Open, the conventional wisdom has it that a new era has begun and Woods may be so much ancient history, with a future that may not include enough major victories to break Jack Nicklauss record of 18. Woods has 14 and hasnt won a major since the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.
But dont tell that to commissioner Tom Finchem or Woods peers. Many of them firmly believe that Woods will make it back from these injuries and remain a force to be reckoned with when he finally gets healthy.
“Im not worried at all about his motivation or his work ethic,” Finchem said during a news conference Wednesday. “Those are a given. But his physical ability to play obviously is a factor. He feels pretty confident thats going to be handled. … I just see his enthusiasm and his work ethic. I think hes going to be back and hell be very competitive.
“To me as a golf fan, I think of Jacks record as really important, but I also think [Sam] Sneads record is important [Snead has 82 PGA Tour victories, Woods 71]. In fact, Ive told Tiger on multiple occasions, youve got to win more tournaments to get to Sneads record and I want you to be thinking about winning more tournaments, not just four or five (majors), because that means youll play longer.”
Defending AT&T champion Justin Rose also is not willing write off Woods quite yet.
“In the grand scheme of things, I still think hes obviously still got time on his side … the records and making a comeback,” the Englishman said. “I have no doubt that hell do that, and obviously thats going to be great for the tour when that happens. The rest of us are still vying for the position of being able to take the top spot and do all that kind of stuff. Its now very attainable for a lot of players, which is very exciting.”
Rose also admitted that Woods prolonged absences over the past two seasons have had some benefits for him and the others on the PGA Tour.
“If you take Tiger in his prime, hed have five or six or seven tournaments a year that would obviously give guys less chances to win,” he said. “Thats not happening at the moment, so now youre seeing one or two more first-time winners, so that does give rise to a little more incentive. If you look at the world No. 1, thats the one area where guys are suddenly thinking the game is on, I can do this. When Tiger [was winning multiple events a year], that seemed impossible. It seemed like that [No. 1 ranking] was unattainable, to be honest. Now theres sort of a realistic target for a lot of guys.”
While Finchem prefaced his remarks by saying “Id rather have (Woods) playing well, believe me,” hes also been delighted with another ramification of his infrequent play the last two years.
“Whats been great is so much focus on the young players coming up and the media focus on those players that just is not available when [Woods] is playing. He dominates the media so much and the telecast, but now that its been available we have an enormous interest in these [younger pla the amount of time a fan is staying with the telecast, the amount of interest thats showing on the website of the players, the word of mouth, the emails. Thats healthy for our sport, very, very healthy. Having that breakthrough is very important for the future of our sport.”
A number of those young up a Ricki Fowler, Nick Watney, Billy as well as several other intriguing stories.
Erik Compton, who has received two heart transplants and won last week on the Nationwide Tour, is in on a sponsors exemption, as is amateur Patrick Cantlay, the rising sophomore at UCLA who shot 60 in Hartford last week and was the 36-hole leader before fading back to a tie for 24th.
Cantlay already has had a good week here in the Philadelphia suburbs.
“First time I ever signed an autograph where someone brought my picture out and I signed my own picture. That was yesterday,” he said. “That was a little shocking.”
