Tiger and Rory Not Making Eye Contact As Valentine's Day Approaches

Bob Harig at ESPN.com has all the juicy details:

Tiger Woods made his 2008 debut at Torrey Pines, predictably shooting up the leaderboard at a place where he has won the Buick Invitational five times, including three in a row.

And there alongside him in third place, two shots behind tournament leader Troy Matteson, is Tiger's 2007 punching bag, Rory Sabbatini. Safe to say, they didn't exchange New Year's greetings when they passed each other in the Buick media center.

In fact, they didn't even acknowledge one another.

Their relationship is as frosty as the temperature, which caused a run on scarves, mittens and sweaters. It didn't keep Woods from picking up where he left off 130 days ago, when he put the finishing touches on an outstanding 2007 season by winning the Tour Championship and the inaugural FedEx Cup.

Sounds like I left San Diego a day too early: 

Players such as Fred Couples and Mark Calcavecchia were not kind, with Couples saying, "It's just not right," and Calcavecchia adding, "Rory is Rory." Woods was none too pleased, either. "I'd like to try and get to the bottom of it when we're done here," Woods said on Dec. 16. "And we'll see what happens."

Apparently, Woods never got to the bottom of it.

"I haven't talked to him about any of it," Woods said Thursday, just minutes after walking past Sabbatini without saying a word, without making eye contact. "It is what it is."

Couples was among those who suggested that Sabbatini donate his $170,000 to the Tiger Woods Foundation, but on Wednesday Sabbatini visited a nearby naval base, where he gave the money to the United Through Reading Foundation. The organization provides a video program for military personnel to keep in touch with their families.

"It's unfortunately one of those things that we seem to forget about and we take for granted out here on the tour," Sabbatini said. "And we were just fortunate that we were able to contribute to it."

When asked if he donated the winnings from Woods' event, Sabbatini said: "That is what the situation was. Unfortunately, the media took a lot of criticism towards me after the event, and in that situation I was there, I was tired, and we thought about it and we thought we'd put it to some good use."

So does this mean if the media hadn't ragged all over Rory, that he wouldn't have made the donation? 

Watch Stevie Go Ballistic!

Check out this YouTube video of Tiger Woods caddie Stevie Williams, winner of the 2003 Nikon Hurling championship and the 2006 9-Iron Dropping Open, go balistic after crashing his race car.

"These kids now, they grow up playing big drivers. The ball doesn't move. They don't have the gear effect in the drivers like they used to."

A couple highlights from Tiger's sitdown in the Torrey Pines media center on the eve of the 2008 Buick Invitational. Starting with this question about the possibility of playing the Northern Trust Open at Riviera:

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, LA is still kind of up in the air. I've always loved playing Riviera. I've only played well I think two times. But hey, hopefully one year I'll be able to get it under my belt.

Just not this year!

And this on shotmaking, from a Craig Dolch question. Love the "These kids now" talk...

Q. You're known as one of the better shot-makers out here, which seems to be somewhat of a dying breed on TOUR. Can you talk a little bit about shot-making and why you think so few guys aren't good shot-makers and just pound the ball now?

TIGER WOODS: Well, I think the guys don't -- they didn't grow up with the ball moving all that much. I was still on -- when I grew up playing I was on that periphery of persimmon and balata balls, so the ball moved quite a bit.

These kids now, they grow up playing big drivers. The ball doesn't move. They don't have the gear effect in the drivers like they used to. A lot of big changes.

The golf courses have changed, as well. So the game is played totally different now than it used to be. So yeah, you have to make the adjustments.

What year did Vijay have that great year, four years ago? He proved just hitting driver on every hole was the best way to attack golf courses. If you're driving it well, great. If you're not, you're going to have a wedge in your hand. That's not the way the older players used to do it. They used to shape it, move it around the golf course and go about their business that way.

"Hicks teed off alone just after 6:30 a.m., but was joined by Woods and Watson on the fairway after Watson boomed a drive 80 yards over Hicks' head."

I shared an apartment for one year during my UCSB days with Buick Invitational qualifier Justin Hicks and can attest that he is one of the nicest, most genuine people you'd ever want to meet. So naturally I found this great note from Ed Zieralski in today's San Diego Union Tribune a bit surprising.

For the past eight years, Justin Hicks has arrived at Torrey Pines at daybreak on Tuesday of the Buick Invitational to videotape Tiger Woods playing a practice round. Yesterday, in a dream-becomes-reality moment, Hicks stepped inside the ropes and played a practice round with Woods and his practice partner, Bubba Watson.

“You know how Andy Warhol talked about that 15 minutes of fame? Well this is my four days of fame here,” said Hicks, who could add two more by making the cut on Friday.

Hicks, 37, qualified for a sponsor's exemption at this year's Buick Invitational by being named Player of the Year for the San Diego Chapter of the Southern California PGA. A teaching pro at Stadium Golf, Hicks has missed qualifying for the Buick Invitational by one stroke three times.

Hicks teed off alone just after 6:30 a.m., but was joined by Woods and Watson on the fairway after Watson boomed a drive 80 yards over Hicks' head. Hicks said Watson hit driver, 7-iron to the 520-yard, par-5 hole.

Classy!

Hicks said it was “nerve-wracking” playing a practice round with Woods. “I felt like the ugly girlfriend with the hot girls next to her,” Hicks said.

The three only played 14 holes, skipping five, six, seven and eight and jumping over to No. 9. It was there that Woods and Watson hit their tee shots simultaneously.

Hicks said he felt like a “third wheel” and tried to keep out of the two friends' fun. He didn't say a word to Woods or Watson. They never said a word to him until the end, when both wished him and his caddie, Todd Howerton, well this week.

“It was still fun,” Hicks said.

How do you hit into (over?) someone and not spend the rest of the round down on your hands and knees kissing their rear end?

Let The Grand Slam Columns Begin!

John Huggan talks to Hank Haney about the state of Tiger's swing as the march toward what everyone seems to think is his best shot at a Grand Slam year, all beginning this coming week at Torrey Pines.

"Tiger is so good that he can find a way to win even when he's uncomfortable with his swing," continues the Dallas-based coach. "But he kept getting more and more comfortable with each new move we added and gained more command, which led to confidence to trust without worrying about the bad shot. He's been at that point in practice rounds for a while now, but it's a whole other mental challenge under the gun."

"But it makes a lot of sense for him to play in Dubai financially."

I know tournament directors have to say this kind of stuff, but...from an Arizona Republic piece notes that Tiger Woods is officially choosing Dubai over the FBR at TPC Scottsdale.

"I think that we will get Tiger Woods to play the FBR Open (some day)," tournament Chairman Tim Lewis said. "I'm disappointed it's not this year. I thought with the Super Bowl here in town that it might attract Tiger, but it makes a lot of sense for him to play in Dubai financially. We have a hard time competing with that."

...but wouldn't it be refreshing if just once, instead of noting that it makes a "lot of sense" for Tiger to play in Dubai "financially" when he certainly does not need the money, how about just bemoaning the fact that you can't pay his appearance fee?

I know, I know, Tiger never forgets.

"I don't know what he does for the other 35 weeks a year. It's not like he can wander off and act like a normal human being and just go bowling."

Bill Nichols pens an interesting column on what you would assume is a tired subject: big names skipping Kapalua. But he touches on some key points...

Good thing the tour will set guidelines for its drug policy this season because evidence suggests widespread use of performance-reducing agents. Top players are having trouble getting off their couches.

Kidding aside, Woods' record makes it difficult to criticize his scheduling. Still, it has become a big problem for regular Tour events.

Chances of landing the world's No. 1 player are reduced with Woods booked for four majors, three World Golf Championships and four FedEx Cup events. He also plays Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament, Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Invitational, the Wachovia Championship, the AT&T National and usually two Buick events.

The Tour initially thought the FedEx Cup would entice marquee names to play more. It has had the opposite effect. With four playoffs, a WGC event and either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup at season's end, top players are searching for time off.

But at least the WGC's have...well, taken us to mediocre courses.  Supported the top 50-in-the-world cocoon and alienated the rest of the world by mostly only being played in America. Other than that...

Loved this from Calc, which I didn't see until Nichols printed it:

"He only plays 16 tournaments a year, or 17, and there's got to be a point where that's going to be too many, where he's just going to say, 'OK, I'm done,' " veteran Mark Calcavecchia told reporters at the Mercedes on Tuesday.

"I don't know what he does for the other 35 weeks a year. It's not like he can wander off and act like a normal human being and just go bowling."

The Shape of Shotmaking, Vol. 1

I'm not really sure where to start with Nick Seitz's compelling look at the state of shotmaking in Golf World's season preview because there are so many points worth noting (and I haven't even gotten to Jaime Diaz's companion chat with Geoff Ogilvy yet, but can't wait.)

The first thought is this: consider how much has changed and the depth of reporting looking at the impact of these changes.

In May 2005 I sat down for an SI Golf Plus roundtable that included Brad Faxon, David Fay and Larry Dorman. They essentially teamed up to tell me that shotmaking was alive and well, the game was more interesting than ever, etc...

Anyway if you go back and read it you realize how absurd they probably sound to a majority of golf fans just two years later, which speaks volumes about how perceptions of the game have changed in a short time.

Which brings us to the Seitz piece, where the overwhelming number of folks quoted blame the golf ball above all else (we'll touch on the club, instruction and architecture blame later).

So here's the first item that leaps off the page: 

Such is his upbringing and talent level, Tiger Woods can pitch a tent in both the traditional and new-age camps, but he laments the decline in more resourceful play. "Most of today's young players never had to work the ball growing up because they were more concerned about distance," he says. "Shotmaking has changed because of the balls. They're harder to work. They go straighter."

If balata balls and persimmon heads were still in play, Woods might well win even more. "Any time a player understands how to shape a golf ball and can consistently hit the ball flush, you're going to want the ball to move more and the equipment to be less forgiving," Woods says. "It puts a premium on quality."

Tiger's custom golf balls, a version of the Nike One Platinum not available in the marketplace, spin more and are easier to maneuver. "They're the spinniest on tour," he says, showing he can coin words as well as craft shots. He doesn't mind giving up a little yardage off the tee to gain accuracy into the greens. Of course, he still averages 300 yards per drive (302.4 yards, 12th on tour in 2007, to be exact).

Now, the USGA and R&A have been running around in circles to figure out ways to restore the importance of skill and shotmaking in the game without touching the ball because the tie between PGA Tour play and average golfer consumption of products the pros play is the most holy of synergies.

Yet here have Tiger not even playing the ball they sell. The only synergy is brand-related, not product related.

I find this odd on many levels. Besides the fact it's another example that the all-vital connection between the pro and amateur games that we are told must be preserved (and which we learn more and more does not actually exist), from a business perspective it just amazes me that this ball is not for sale.

"My carbon footprint is substantially higher than the average person..."

Tony Jimenez's profile of Justin Rose includes several comments from the Englishman about aspiring to the number 1 spot in the world (but unlike Jason Day's recent remarks, they're far less audacious).

And as you're reading some of his observations of Tiger, well... 

 "When you first play him, that's definitely the case," said the Florida-based Englishman. "There is an aura, a presence about him, but that's something you have to get over quickly if you want to take him on.

"Ultimately you've got to give him the respect he deserves, I think that's all he really wants from his playing partners. He is genuinely one of the guys, if you have a laugh with him, he'll have a laugh back."

Rose has just finalised a deal with sponsor Tradition, a leading broker dealer, that will mean the globe-trotting golfer becomes one of the world's first carbon-neutral sportsmen.

The company plans to trade carbon credits based on his carbon footprint in 2008.

"My carbon footprint is substantially higher than the average person so it is even more prevalent for someone in my situation to give something back to the environment," said Rose.

Wow, we went from talking Tiger to calculating carbon footprints. Well, give him credit for taking on a noble cause.
 

Uh, have you calculated your carbon footprint today? Or were you like me and didn't know what the heck that was?

The Next OnStar Ad?

I am not a member of the striking Writer's Guild, and here is why.

It occurred to me that when Rory Sabbatini may have run off with his Buick Enclave after WD'ing from Tiger's event at Sherwood, the inability to locate his courtesy car should have been solved by GM's OnStar system. If you've seen any of Tiger's OnStar ads, you would know this.

Since I'm always looking to turn a negative into a negative, I thought it would be wise to pitch this as the next Tiger Woods OnStar commercial. Here's what I've got so far, but your suggestions are always welcome. Unless you are a member of the Writer's Guild:

FADE IN: INT. SHERWOOD COUNTRY CLUB CLUBHOUSE
Target World Challenge Tournament Director Greg McLaughlin is conferencing with Tiger Woods in the Men's Locker Room. Both men look gravely concerned, and we faintly here Woods ask, "What about OnStar?"

CUT TO: McLaughlin seated, talking to imaginary interviewer in hip, reality show format

GREG McLAUGLIN
Rory Sabbatini withdrew from the final round of our tournament and left for Los Angeles International Airport in one of course Buick Enclave. As tournament director, I didn't know what to do because we had to have the vehicle back immediately.

CUT TO: Woods seated, talking to imaginary interviewer.

TIGER WOODS
I said to Greg, "Rory Sabbatini is precisely why they invented OnStar." Their Stolen Vehicle Assistance will locate the car.

CUT TO: Woods in Sherwood Country Club parking lot, talking to female, under 30, hot sounding OnStar representative.

TIGER WOODS
Hello OnStar? We've got this moron who ran off with one of our courtesy cars.

ONSTAR REPRESENTATIVE
I have the Target World Challenge field list right here. Is it Rory Sabbatini?

TIGER WOODS
How did you know?

ONSTAR REPRESENTATIVE
We know everything. We'll get the location to you right away.

CUT TO: Ext. McLaughlin and Woods are driving in a Buick Enclave and pull into a parking lot near LAX with Woods on phone to OnStar representative. They spot Sabbatini's missing courtesy car, give each other a high five and Woods speaks.

TIGER WOODS
Thanks OnStar. We'll remember to use Stolen Vehicle Assistance next year when we invite John Daly.

CUT TO: On Screen OnStar graphic and voiceover.

FADE OUT.

"He had to go to the pro shop to buy golf balls before the playoff"

Doug Ferguson's weekly notes column features a fun bit on Tiger seeking and getting only his second autographed piece of memorabilia from Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, and these anecdotes from Open Championship winner Padraig Harrington's new book:

He used three drivers during the British Open, going from a 9-degree loft in practice to a 7.5-degree loft in the first two rounds to an 8.5-degree loft on the weekend. The latter, which he used to drive into the Barry Burn on the 72nd hole, is still in his bag.

He had to go to the pro shop to buy golf balls before the playoff because he couldn't find the extra balls he had set aside, although he located them moments before he teed off against Sergio Garcia.

Tiger Tops Rory By 19, Setting Up Monty-Sabbatini Dewsweepers Pairing

Since it was 29 degrees in Malibu Canyon this morning and 31 when I pulled into Sherwood, you can imagine how many people will be rushing out to see Rory Sabbatini attempting to repeat his trio of triple bogies while Monty sees if he can run faster than Rory and perhaps even catch the hole cutter during Saturday's round at Sherwood.

Oh, by the way, Tiger fired 62 and said the greens were soft.

Q.  How would you characterize the course setup today, and what do you think of the job the field staff does in general?

TIGER WOODS:  Well, the field staff set it up probably a little bit more difficult today pin wise, but the greens were soft.  I mean, that's the thing that allows us to be aggressive.  I fire at pins that I normally don't fire at here.  One, we had no wind, and we had greens that were backing balls up.  We had to watch out for spinning the ball back too much with 9 irons and wedges.  They did all they can do to hide the pins and make it a little more difficult, but when you've got receptive greens then the guys are going to shoot good scores.

I walked on all 18 of them while touring the course with John Mutch of the PGA Tour field staff and while the greens may not have been brick hard, to call them soft is an exaggeration. Several were frozen until nearly 10 a.m.

Admittedly, Sherwood's greens and today's locations did allow for shots to be funneled to the hole, but soft?

If those are soft and guys are spinning it back, then maybe U-grooves do have to go. I'd hate to think what Tiger considres to be a firm green.
 

"What you're trying to prevent is the kids look up to athletes, and you don't want to have kids going down the wrong path at an early age and knowing that they can get away with it."

Sherwood was abuzz today...with talk of the Mitchell Report. This meant all of us got to listen to Art Spander do a live radio interview (actually, Art talked loud enough that he really didn't need to phone this one in).

When Tiger Woods came in the cart barn after his opening 69, he was asked by Doug Ferguson about the possibility of such a report in golf had the new drug testing program not been started, and Tiger said what I've been ranting and raving about forever and which no one in a position of power has said, which is odd considering their devotion to family values.

Q. If the TOUR doesn't have this testing now, do you think there eventually could have been a Mitchell report for golf?

TIGER WOODS: I think it could happen. What you're trying to prevent is the kids look up to athletes, and you don't want to have kids going down the wrong path at an early age and knowing that they can get away with it.

"Fairways are much tighter…and this is further evidenced by the fact that Fred Funk -- who is the benchmark for fairways -- is down in accuracy about 6 percent"

Bob Harig catches up with Hank Haney, who makes a long overdue point about Tiger's driving and the accuracy decline of other top players.

And the easy place to look was at Woods' driving accuracy, which had dropped from over 70 percent in 2000 to under 60 percent this year -- with varying degrees of difficulty in hitting fairways during that time.

"Wouldn't it be more relevant to compare Tiger to the other players?'' said Haney, who pointed out that most players have lost accuracy over the past five years.

Among the reasons Haney cites are the fact that players are hitting the ball farther, fairways are tighter, they are using more drivers off the tee in an attempt to overpower courses and they are using drivers with longer shafts (45 inches now, compared to 43).

"Simple geometry says that even a driver that averages one yard farther will miss more fairways,'' he said. "And Tiger is much longer" -- 293.3 yards in 2002 versus 302.4 yards in 2007 -- "than he was.

"Fairways are much tighter … and this is further evidenced by the fact that Fred Funk -- who is the benchmark for fairways -- is down in accuracy about 6 percent, despite the fact that he has lost distance since 2002.''

Remember, those in favor of grooves regulation suggest these guys thump away at the ball because they have grooves, yet have never mentioned that the decrease in accuracy could also be influenced by narrowing fairway widths.

"Woods either uses things as motivation to take his seemingly indestructible golf game to higher levels or simply blocks them out of his mind."*

Yahoo!'s Martin Rogers is the only scribe (golf.com's Michael Walker also weighed in*) to cover the odd events at Tiger's Tuesday press conference, but he draws a much different conclusion from the incident than I have.

Despite the intrusion of a rogue television crew from a British dating program that tried to embarrass the world's No. 1, there was not a crack in his professional demeanor or a flicker of annoyance.

"Hi Tiger, my boyfriend is a big fan of yours, but he often calls your name out during sex," squealed a pile of mascara and cleavage from the third row. "Do you think he might be gay?"

"That's a very interesting question," replied Woods.

The conversation continued, with the woman making a suggestive comment about a golf club – too lewd for this online publication – and Woods giving a neutral answer.

"I think I should dump him and get back with my ex," the woman said of her "boyfriend" toward the end of her routine.

"I guess you have to figure that out," Woods said.

"I think I should meet someone new. Do you think I should join a dating Web site?"

With that, the woman and her camera crew were ordered to leave by tournament staff.

Immediately, the event's PR crew started fretting as to how annoyed Woods would have been by the exchange and how it might affect him.

Somehow, I don't think they need to worry.

Woods either uses things as motivation to take his seemingly indestructible golf game to higher levels or simply blocks them out of his mind. If more than a decade's worth of the best golfers in the world have failed to shake him out of his stride it will take more than a Spice Girl wannabe and her misguided humor to throw him off.

After sleeping on it, I'm of the school that this incident needs to be examined by the PGA Tour quite carefully. The AP's Doug Ferguson has noted for some time that these meet-and-greet sessions with Tiger are out of control. If I'm Tiger or his agent, I would have to see Tuesday's incident as more than just an annoying little incident, but instead as a serious security issue.

He certainly can handle a heckler better than just about anyone. But what if one of these mysterious TV types that now get access to press conferences so that the PGA Tour can reach out to the coveted youth demo included someone who wanted to do physical harm?