When you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
John Hawkins calls Tiger's free loading dock relief drop an embarrassment and asks...
Since when did the clubhouse and parking lot become part of the golf course? I’m no rules aficionado, but I’ve always thought that any shot that leaves the field of play is considered out of bounds.
BTW, did anyone actually see the ball turned over to Steve Williams or Tiger, as Bill Kratzert said on TV?
Thomas Bonk files a front (sports) page story on Tiger's call for drug testing, with several interesting quotes. Starting with Tiger's agent, Mark Steinberg:
"There's a lot out there right now, with BALCO, the cycling and the sprinters, so what he's saying is, 'Start with golf, start with me. I'm clean and I think the sport's clean,' " Steinberg said Friday.And some experts weigh in:
" 'If people are speculating about golf, let's get it over now.' "
Added Charles Yesalis, professor emeritus at Penn State and an expert in performance-enhancing drugs and sports, "Anyone who doesn't say it's a can of worms or that it's a time bomb that is going to explode in your face is nuts. "Given what [baseball Commissioner] Bud Selig went through with his stupidity, with the way he handled it, golf, before it gets hauled into court, should start with something. That's what the smart money would do.And, in response to Finchem's position:
"I've heard every excuse, every rationale you could ever think of, and to listen to the spin of the holier-than-thous — the spin people always point their finger in every direction other than the right one — is misguided.
"With a ton of money involved in golf, there's talk of beta blockers, low doses of human growth hormone, and if you already have the 10th of a 10th of a 10th of a percentage of the public that is good enough to play the PGA Tour, then you take that guy and add 10 pounds of muscle, are you telling me the ball won't go farther?"
"Although the 'Chariots of Fire' model is interesting, that's not the world we live in," John Hoberman, an expert on drugs in sports at the University of Texas, said Friday.
Because there is no PGA Tour list of illegal performance-enhancing substances, drugs such as beta blockers, which have a tranquilizing effect on users, could find their way into golf, according to Hoberman.
"The real threat to golf, with all hell breaking out in baseball because of steroids, are the drugs that would probably be more useful, say the beta blockers, for calmness, self-control, lack of anxiety, steady hands, attention and focus, all qualities that would seem useful in putting," he said Friday.
Woods' preparation for such a scene of chaos begins quietly enough when he arrives at the course, typically about an hour and 15 minutes before the final round. He starts with his putting drill with the two tees and when he shifts to the driving range, he spends 30 to 40 minutes, beginning with a sand wedge and moving from the higher-lofted clubs to the lower-lofted clubs in his bag. Then he returns to the putting green for a final warmup before going to the first tee.
It is Williams' duty to bring a copy of the pin sheets to Woods at the driving range, showing the precise location of the pins on each green. Woods studies them, then practices as if he is hitting toward each pin, allowing him to decide what kind of shots to hit to every green while he's still on the range. This preparation method is unique to Woods.
His last shot on the driving range is the first shot he'll hit at the first tee. On Sunday, he rocketed a five-wood at the range, duplicated the shot at the first tee and was off and running.
Included below is the full exchange where Tiger Woods took a new stance on drug testing in golf, but before that, check out this Rally Killer of the Year candidate. Apparently Tiger has changed his schedule and is going to take the chartered jet to Ireland with his teammates Monday and Tuesday.
Q. Are you going to the K Club?
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, I'm going. We're all going together. I had to reschedule a couple things.
Q. When are you coming back?
TIGER WOODS: Wednesday morning. I get back Wednesday morning here.
Q. What's the puppy's name?
TIGER WOODS: Yogi, like Yogi Bear. He looks more like Yogi Bear.
Q. What kind?
TIGER WOODS: It's a Labradoodle.
Back to golf (laughter).
Q. Obviously you thought it was important enough to reschedule things to go next week. What was the thinking behind that?
TIGER WOODS: I've seen The K Club enough, but just to be with the guys. We're going there as a team and going there just to hang out and relax and play a little golf. Most of the guys haven't played the golf course very much, and if I can help out at all, I can hopefully, and maybe pass on a few tidbits that I've learned over the years of playing there.
Do we have a winner? Certainly a rally killer of the year finalist! And the exchange on drug testing, unfortunatey, minus the questions.
Q. (Inaudible)?
TIGER WOODS: There are a lot of things I've shifted since I've been on Tour, a lot of things. That's just one of them.
Q. (Inaudible)?
TIGER WOODS: I think certainly it can be in the future, and I think we should be proactive instead of reactive, and I think that we should just like the driver situation, we were reactive there instead of proactive.
I just think that we should be ahead of it and keep our sport as pure as can be. This is a great sport and it's always been clean.
Q. (Inaudible)?
TIGER WOODS: Have a program in place before guys are actually doing well, know who's doing it, and then create a program. I think that would be reactive.
Q. (Inaudible)?
TIGER WOODS: I'd be in favor of that, no doubt about that. I would be in favor of that, yes. I don't know if we could get that implemented in time. It's fine with me.
Q. (Inaudible)?
TIGER WOODS: It depends on what it is because each sport kind of takes a few things off of it, and some sports are pretty strict about what they can take. They can't even take aspirin. I don't know how that would work.
Whoa Nellie! Tiger Woods says...
Tiger Woods said he would like to see testing on the PGA Tour for performance-enhancing drugs as soon as possible to make sure golf remains clean.
"I don't know when we could get that implemented," Woods said. "Tomorrow would be fine with me."
Woods did not say he thought anyone was using steroids, but said it could be a problem in the future.
"I think we should be proactive instead of reactive," he said. "I just think we should be ahead of it and keep our sport as pure as can be. This is a great sport, and it's always been clean."
Woods' comments came one day after PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said he saw no need for drug testing in golf without evidence that any players are using steroids.
Woods compared the situation to the PGA Tour testing thin-faced drivers that exceeded regulations for the trampoline effect, known as the coefficient of restitution (COR). He suggested in 2003 that some players were using hot drivers. By the following year, tour officials had a tool that measured COR, although drivers were not tested unless another player asked.
"Just like the driver situation, we were reactive there instead of proactive," Woods said.
This is quite a shift for Woods, who was asked (by yours truly) about this subject last year at the Target World Challenge.
Q. There was a story in Golf World last week about performance enhancing drugs and steroids in golf and the possibility of it. Do you think there is a possibility that players are using anything and should there be perhaps a Tour policy or testing on that, either steroids or any kind of enhancing drug?
TIGER WOODS: There's always a possibility. Unless you're tested, there's always going to be a shadow of doubt on any sport. I don't see anyone out there who I would think would have finds of it, but who's to say there aren't. We don't know. We don't see any guys out there, 6 5, 240, 250, in shape, cut up, all ripped up. We don't have guys out there like that.
Q. Are you in favor of testing or do you think that's something that should be treated with a little more study?
TIGER WOODS: I think we should study it a little bit more before we get into something like that. Obviously it's a path that where do you draw the line? Do you do it on the PGA Tour nationwide but don't do it on any other tours leading up to that, or all professional golf.
Obviously there is a lot to it than just, okay, there's mandatory testing. Where does it start? Who does it? Who is in control of it? What are the substances that you're looking for. In the Olympics you can't take aspirin. A lot of guys live on aspirin out here.
Brett Avery's PGA Championship stat package is now posted online at GolfDigest.com.
He offers an interesting chart on Tiger's major wins.
The gist?
All but two of Tiger's major wins has come at events where the average scoring could be called "low."
Avery writes:
From the 1999 PGA to last week's 2006 PGA at Medinah No. 3, Tiger Woods has won an incredible 11 of 29 major titles. During that span Woods served as a catalyst for distance increases that prompted the transformation of most host courses. While he won last week on the longest course in majors history, it resulted in yet another victory in a championship with a relatively low scoring average in relation to par. Woods has one the five "easiest" majors since the 1999 PGA, including last week (72.635 average or 0.635 over par).
Staring at the chart, it's hard not to notice that of the majors at the high scoring majors not won by Tiger, each was marked by course setups ranging from way too narrow (Winged Foot, Oak Hill) to borderline goofy (Royal St. George's, Pinehurst, Southern Hills) to completely over the top (Shinnecock Hills).
When you think of the worst setups of the last 7 years, elements of each of the aforementioned come to mind.
Decent questions today from the scribblers, except one from a foreign land.
TIGER WOODS: Thanks. It was a special day out there. I just had one of those magical days on the greens today. I just felt like if I got the ball anywhere on the green, I could make it. It's not too often you get days like that, and I happened to have it on the final round of a major championship. So it was a really neat feeling to have.More modesty...
I was just trying to get the ball in the fairway, trying to get the ball anywhere on the green, and I knew that I felt like I could make anything. It's a special day on the greens today, and I just happened to make some nice bombs early in the front nine to stay ahead.
Q. You told us years ago the fact that you'd tape Nicklaus' records on the wall when you were a kid. Well, you're approaching him now, become No. 2 in majors. Can you discuss that, and is that 18 majors now like the big goal now that you've done everything else?The lack of root structure seems to be the developing theme with regard to the greens...
TIGER WOODS: Well, it's still a long way away. It's not something I could get next year. You know, as I said, it took Jack over 20 years to get to his. It's going to take a career, and I've just got to keep plugging along and keep trying to win these things.
These are the most fun events to play in, the major championships. I just thoroughly enjoy coming down the stretch on the back nine with a chance to win it. That's why I practice as hard as I do and what I live for. That to me is the ultimate rush in our sport is on that back nine on Sunday with a chance to win a major championship.
To answer your question, I've still got a long way to go. 18 is a pretty big number.
Q. Some players talked about the greens and said they were really able to hold them well, and the reason being is because they're only a few years old and the root structures hadn't set in there. Wondering what your opinion on that is.
Also, you said you prefer major championships to be single digits. Having won at 18 under, do you take that? Is that okay, too?
TIGER WOODS: I'm never going to say no if I win. No, the guys are right. The root structure wasn't there, and every ball is just splashing and bringing up making huge ball marks. We're bringing up dirt. You're never going to get balls bouncing on these greens at all, this week, and then with the rain this week it just made it worse.
You just had the feeling early in the week even when you played the practice rounds that guys were going to make some birdies this week. All the par 5s with good drives, except for 14, so basically three of the four par 5s were reachable, pretty much for all players. You knew that guys were going to be bunched up making a bunch of birdies. Then you had the soft greens, and guys were going to continue making birdies.
One thing they never got this week is they never got the greens quick. Even if you had downhill putts you were never afraid the ball was going to run out. You never were cautious on a downhill putt, you thought you could still ram it in there and knock it in there. That's normally not the case in most majors. But this week it just happened to be an aberration.
It will be interesting to see if anyone parades this next quote out in defense of the state of the game and equipment (they will be ignoring the millions people spend to get golf courses playing somewhat similar):
...I played it basically the same positions I played in '99, just the ball has changed since '99. The ball is going a lot further. But I'm basically hitting 3 wood or 5 wood to the same exact spots I hit 3 wood or 2 iron the last time we played. I basically played it to the same spots I did last time and accepted that, didn't try and cut over any of the doglegs with driver. For instance, today on 5, it was blowing down off the right so I went with 3 wood off the tee because if I hit driver I would have to take it over the corner of the trees down there and I wouldn't have any room. I could run it in a far bunker so I laid it back. That's basically the way I played the golf course in '99.
And what would a week at a tree lined inland layout be without a "right in front of you" quote from Tiger...
TIGER WOODS: Well, as far as the first part of your question, Medinah Country Club is one of the neat places. I've played here a few times actually, as well as in the '99 PGA. And 2006 PGA I've come out here with M.J. and we've played a little bit. I've always loved playing here. It's a straightforward golf course. We don't get to play golf courses like this. That's why guys love Charlotte, love playing at Firestone next week, why guys love playing Riviera.
These are golf courses that are straightforward, classic golf courses that are just right in front of you. They're difficult but they're not tricked up like how most of the modern golf courses are now. It's a very straightforward the membership has done a fantastic job of getting prepared for us and having open arms and just having a great event this weekend.
This was funny...
Q. What did you first think when you saw that Luke came out wearing a red shirt today? And can you recall the last time anyone wore a red shirt when paired with you on Sunday at a major?
TIGER WOODS: I don't recall, no. No, sorry. I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was kind of weird to have a blue belt with it (laughter).
Here's why Tiger is a saint. I don't care how bad this person's English is, lost in translation is no excuse for first askig this question, and then following up obnoxiously.
Q. When I was out there on the putting green, I found that Phil Mickelson signed autographs for kids every day all the time and you seldom did or never did. What's the reason? And does that mean you don't like kids or you love golf more than kids?
TIGER WOODS: I sign at the range, but I didn't do it around the clubhouse, no. There are too many people, and kids get run over. It actually gets pretty dangerous. We had a barricade go down this week. It gets a little dangerous at times.
Q. And a follow up, I know that you will come to China this November for HSBC Championship. Will you give more autographs to Chinese kids than last year? I think you did it once or twice.
TIGER WOODS: Trust me, I did more than that.
Q. I'd appreciate it.
TIGER WOODS: You got it.
Like I said. A saint.
The PGA runner-up sums up Tiger pretty nicely here...
Q. It's obviously no secret that Tiger is back on a roll again. I'm just curious what your take is on where his game is in relation to everybody else right now, and is it getting to be sort of a 2000 ish feeling again with what Tiger is doing?
SHAUN MICHEEL: I suppose. He's obviously well, he's still an incredible putter, and he's just such an intimidating force, really. For him to go out and I said this earlier, for him to hit 11 out of 14 fairways on this golf course where you basically are having to hit wood off the tee at the Open Championship, I don't know how many drivers he hit, probably not more than oh, he hit one, okay. So he's hitting a lot of 2 irons, and he was just in control of his game.
That's what you've got to have. You've got to have control of your golf ball. When you pull the driver out, sometimes you lose that control, but he wasn't forced to do that. I don't know how many drivers he hit this week, either. He probably wasn't forced to hit as many because I know the 7,500 yards was the longest in PGA history, but it really didn't play that because there's a lot of doglegs and there's a lot of holes you can kind of cut some yardage off. He's going to be dominating whether he's playing well or not. Tiger has a unique ability to play well when he thinks he's not playing well. I mean, we all kind of smirk and laugh when he says he's got his B game, but that's better than most of our A games. He's just that good.
He doesn't do anything silly. He doesn't make any mistakes. He's so mentally tough there, I'm not sure anything ever bothers him. I wish I had that feeling just once.
Q. Can you talk about the setup and with that many low scores out there, does it change the approach where par is not necessarily a good score?
TIGER WOODS: Well, the greens are soft out there. The wind was pretty benign most of the day. It would come up, die down, come up, die down, but it wasn't a real big factor out there today. With the greens being soft, the guys are going to aim at a lot of flags, indicative of the scores. Any time the greens are fairly soft, you're going to get a bunch of low numbers on the board.
Q. Just getting back to the greens being soft, were they softer in the practice rounds and were you surprised that for a major championship, we haven't had rain around here hardly at all, that they were this soft in the first round?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I was pretty surprised that they had that much moisture in them. But also, then again, they are not exactly smooth, either. So it will be interesting in the afternoons, see what the scores will be.
You get a lot of balls that are bouncing a little bit out there. There's going to be a lot of that just because the greens are so soft.
Tiger Woods managed to go the whole press conference without one "it's right in front of you" compliment of Medinah, and he also got through it without screaming "why!??!?!!" at the top of his lungs after some really wonderful questions. First, the golf course and course management stuff.
TIGER WOODS: Yeah, the golf course is absolutely fantastic. Obviously they've lengthened some of the holes and the greens have been redone, but the golf course is such a wonderful layout, wonderful shape to it. It's one of the neat golf courses we get to play. It's old and traditional and it's just very straightforward. I mean, you've got to hit the ball well and obviously control your irons into these greens in order to have a chance.
Q. A lot has been made about your driving accuracy. Do you think too much has been made about it? And secondly, playing a course like this, do you need, do you think, to hit driver a lot, or can you hit the 5 wood stinger and 3 woods and get away with it.
TIGER WOODS: I'm not going to hit that many drivers because it won't really allow me to. Most of the holes are doglegged. Obviously I'd have to take driver up over the top of these tall trees, and it doesn't make any sense. Yeah, I'm going to use it a few times, definitely.
But overall, just like it was back in '99, I hit just a bunch of 2 irons and a bunch of 3 woods here. Just because that's the way the golf course allowed you to play. You play to a lot of the corners and obviously fire from there. If you try to take on a lot of the corners or shape the ball around the corner, yeah, you can, but it's not always the easiest thing to do.
And with this next question, the affair sprialed rapidly. Where was Julius Mason to pull the plug!?!
Q. My doctor doesn't think that golf is a very physical game, but you have a lot of ups and downs here at Medinah. How would you rate it compared to other courses as far as a walk for four days?
TIGER WOODS: Not that tough. I mean, I think I'm in decent shape. Walking 18 holes shouldn't be that hard. Twenty more years before I can ride in a cart (laughter).
Some of the other questions Tiger faced...
Q. How old were you, and was there a specific shot or a specific tournament when you knew that you were good enough to play on the PGA TOUR?I'm going take a guess here and say that question came from an uh, overseas writer. Or a drunk one.
Q. Best we can tell, the only other time you play with Phil in a major is '01 at The Masters. Can you think of another? Then I have a quick follow up.
Q. Do you find it more enjoyable to play with Phil in a major or at a Ryder Cup?
Q. You kind of made reference to it earlier, 20 years until you've got to ride in a cart. I am kind of curious where you see yourself at 50. Are you still trying to add to your major totals, or are you a soccer dad or what do you see?
Q. Is it okay to ask on the spectator side I know you are a great player, great champion. I've seen this like four times in a row, but no matter what, you are a great player. I remember there was a long time ago at The Masters, you won The Masters, and I think the channel 2 commentator introduced you, and when your father passed away everybody felt sorry. My question is going to be in the near future about a charity in the memory of your parents who have passed on?
Q. You look at some of the guys who have played you tough in majors, Rich Beem, Bob May, even Chris DiMarco would sort of fit into this category of guys who maybe they wouldn't be the first guys you would think of. This might be a tough question for you to answer, but do you think it's easier in a way for those guys who have lower expectations to play up to their abilities against you, as opposed to guys who are ranked second, third, fourth in the world?
Q. What do you think is your impact on golf in the last decade?
Q. What are you bowel movements like?
Oh, okay, I slipped that last one in.
"When Phil's at his best, I'm thinking nobody can beat him," Pelz said.
Does Pelz's bold pronouncement include a certain player who has won 50 PGA Tour titles and 11 majors?
"You bet it does," Pelz said. "If Phil's long swing is good, his short game, I believe, is the best in the world. He doesn't have a serious weakness inside 150 yards.
"I'm not saying Tiger's short game is bad. He has a great short game. But I think Phil putts more consistently than Tiger does. He has more imagination and a few more shots around the green."
Pelz adds one caveat.
"The question is, how often is Phil on his best game?" he said.
There's a killer book excerpt in the new Golf Digest featuring Jackie Burke's thoughts on the Ryder Cup, but since it's not linked, here's Burke talking to Jim McCabe about his PGA Championship win and other topics.
He has been around the game for nearly all 83 years of his life, which is why when he speaks, people listen. Burke has a passion for the game, particularly for great amateur play, but he cares little for some aspects that shape the landscape. He's fearful that a player on a practice range somewhere is going to get seriously hurt by a teaching device what with all the ropes and metal, and he feels pity for what they've done to the club professional's job description.
``He's got to worry about carts and shirts and the hypotenuse of a triangle," said Burke.
As for the phenomenon called Tiger Woods, Burke said it isn't a mystery.
``He's the only one who understands how to play the game, how to make shots," said Burke. ``The other guys? They're all out there plumb-bobbing the world, worrying about their launch angle and their ball speed. But Woods is like the great pool player -- he doesn't see the cue, doesn't see the ball, he just sees the whole game."
Gene Yasuda and Kevin Dwire look at at all of Tiger's sponsors and what he brings to the table. Lots of references to what he brings to the brands. Obviously it's a slow week.
Vartan Kupelian spent a few too many days in the hot Flint sun last week, because he's proposing that Detroit find a way to build the first ever Tiger Woods design to replace the "too easy" Warwick Hills. Oh and he wants to pair Tiger up with Tom Doak.
Apparently Vartan is trying to make enemies in IMG Design Services, Inc.
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning
Copyright © 2022, Geoff Shackelford. All rights reserved.
