Video: Even Tiger Cold Tops One Now And Then...

Thanks to reader Brian for the video link to this shot during first round play at Abu Dhabi. The shot was hit from the first tee (his tenth hole) during opening round play in the 2013 HSBC Golf Championship.

According to Golf Channel's Tiger Tracker it went 200 yards.

Watch it before the inevitable copyright claim.

Update on 2013-01-17 16:43 by Geoff

**Alistair Tait was there and documents the rusty start for both Tiger and Rory. His description of the above shot for the days after the video is scrubbed.

I think we can all relate to this feeling:

Woods hit a drive that would have embarrassed many high-handicappers. He hit an inch behind the ball and watched as it fell short of the fairway. The ball traveled only about 150 yards. Woods’ fairway metal approach still came up 20 yards short, and he failed to get up-and-down for par. “My whole game plan was to hit 3-iron or 5-wood on that hole,” Woods said. “I changed my game plan and wasn’t committed to the shot. I didn’t want to hit it. I was really fighting over that tee shot and should have backed off it.”

Rory & Tiger Show; Abu Dhabi TV Times

Hey, I just copy and paste this stuff from Golf Channel, but here are their times for the HSBC from Abu Dhabi where Tiger, Rory and many other big names kick off their 2013 season. Another great night to live on the west coast!

Tiger and Rory are paired together as well, going early/late.

Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
Dates: Jan. 16-20
Venue: Abu Dhabi Golf Club, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
                
Airtimes (Eastern):   
Wednesday     10:30 p.m.-8 a.m. (Live)
Thursday         10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 11 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (Round One Replay)
Friday              2:30-8 a.m. (Live) / 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 1:30-4 a.m. (Replay)
Saturday          4-8 a.m. (Live) / 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 1:30-4 a.m. (Replay)
Sunday            4- 8 a.m. (Live) / 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. / 1:30-4 a.m. (Replay)
                                                                                             
Tournament Field Notes:

- Woods and McIlroy Make 2013 Debuts – The world’s number one and two players, Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, begin their 2013 season at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

- Headlining the Field – The field also includes Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer, Jason Dufner, Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Branden Grace, Thomas Bjorn, Francesco Molinari, Peter Hanson, Edoardo Molinari, Colin Montgomerie, Matteo Manassero, Henrik Stenson, Alexander Noren, Paul Casey, Robert Rock and Todd Hamilton.

Whoa Files: How About That Trophy, Nelson Mandela Edition

Mark Garrod reports on the Euro Tour's Nelson Mandela Championship where they played Royal Durban as a 5,594-yard par-65 due to flooding, prompting Jason Sobel to suggest this was the first (albeit unintentional!) professional example of Tee It Forward.

But what caught my eye: the Getty Image accompanying the story.

I thought winner Scott Jamieson was doing a complicated ventriloquist act featuring former President Mandela talking to graduates of the The First Tee and then, well, I realized some South Africans just went an ambitious direction with their trophy design.

At Least It's Not Dubai: Turkey Eyes 2022 Ryder Cup Bid

And as Bernie McGuire reports, Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose supported the idea when asked about Ahmet "Head Butt" Agaoglu's desire to launch a Turkish Golf Federation supported bid.  Of course the lads are both carrying quite a bit of cash from their recent visit there, so it would rude to say otherwise.

As you know, it's a European Tour tradition to hang a for sale sign on their most important event, regardless of course quality and as we learned not long ago, location.  Dubai was kicked around as a possibility, before sanity prevailed. And since Turkey is also not a European union member, it might take some convincing to send the Ryder Cup there.

Tiger Sounding Non-Committal (At Best) On Euro Tour Membership

From today's presser to announce the field and new sponsor for the year-end World Challenge at Sherwood.

Q.  Wondering what your thoughts are on ‑‑ you mentioned before that you might be joining the European Tour a few weeks back.  I want to know what that would mean if you chose to do that.

TIGER WOODS:  Well, they asked me the question whether or not I would entertain it, and I said, yeah, I entertained it early on in my career, there's no doubt, because at the time there was only 11 events, and I believe it was eight cross‑overs, and I played once or twice in Europe, and that put me at nine or ten ‑‑ usually at 10 because I played in Asia and I played as well in Germany for all those years.  So I was only one event away.

Now it's at 13.  13 is a little bit more difficult to get to, but that's one of the reasons why I think they implemented the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup as events that count towards that number.  I certainly can see the benefits and also see the negatives of playing that much golf.  But going forward, I don't know.

Chubby: Turkey Final A Model For Others

Dermot Gilreese assesses the Turkey Final cash grab that so enriched the lives of eight men last week. The primary organizer explains how it could be a model for future events.

Meanwhile, the money flows. And given his success in attracting such leading names to last week's enterprise, Chubby Chandler of International Sports Management believes it could work in other countries as a promotional vehicle. Indeed as an early by-product, it is hoped that several of last week's octet will return to compete in the Turkish Open in 13 months. As Chandler put it: "I've already established that it's a free week for Tiger."

And Chandler explains how he insured that there were no last minute WD's:

Even with attractive figures being thrown around, it seems that good faith is crucial to the success of these ventures. Which explains why Chandler made sure that $150,000 -- half the minimum guaranteed prize money -- would be lodged to each player's bank account on September 1 of this year -- almost six weeks before the event. "As a gesture, I felt it appropriate to assure them that they were going to be paid," he said.

So much classier than a brown paper bag full of cash or chips to the casino!