"The conversation went good shot, good shot, good shot"

Column highlights filed following Tiger's win at Memorial, starting with Helen Ross writing for PGATour.com:

And Woods put on a clinic Sunday -- hitting all 14 fairways for the first time since he won at Bay Hill six years ago. In fact, he only missed the short grass seven times all week and his driving accuracy percentage of 87.5 equaled the best of his career.

"The conversation went good shot, good shot, good shot," said Michael Letzig, who got the up-close-and-personal view while paired with Woods on Sunday.

Woods' iron play was extremely sharp, as well. He hit 53 of 72 greens in regulation -- none as precise as the approach at the 72nd hole that stopped 14 inches from the pin and stamped the victory with an exclamation point.

Thomas Bonk on the win:

Forget all the fallout from Woods' perceived problems closing in his last three tournaments -- the Masters, Quail Hollow and the Players Championship -- this one was an instant classic. Now with 19 wins in his last 35 PGA Tour events, Woods is clearly back on track, and he's pleased with the timing.

Rex Hoggard notes this from Jack Nicklaus:

Just ask Nicklaus, perhaps the only man alive who can relate to Woods’ brilliance.

“If he drives the ball like that it won’t be a contest,” Nicklaus said. “Can you imagine, 14 of 14 fairways (hit) today, seven (missed) fairways all week. That’s pretty good...”

And Steve Elling adds this from the Golden Bear:

The host of the event, a guy with 18 major championships, was slack-jawed at Woods' performance and even made Woods blush during the trophy-presentation ceremony on the 18th green.

"Tiger, you're not known for hitting the ball straight, are you?" Jack Nicklaus said into the public-address system as thousands laughed and Woods pulled the cap down over his eyes.
Then the Golden Bear uttered the words that everybody was thinking: Woods, the defending U.S. Open champion who will seek his 15th major beginning June 18 on Long Island, has never seemed like a stronger pick.

"I suspect that No. 15 will come to Tiger Woods in about two weeks," Nicklaus said. "If he drives the ball this way, and plays this way, I'm sure it will. If not, it would surprise me greatly."
Thanks for saving me from having to state the obvious, Jack.

Bob Harig caught up with Hank Haney and quotes the vindicated instructor:

"I heard people on TV say he was lost," said Haney, who arrived for the final round Sunday. "How can anybody say he's lost? It makes no sense. I thought he deserved an opportunity to get himself back feeling good. It was a pretty serious injury [ACL reconstruction] for an athlete. And then you consider how long he was out of competition. This was a huge confidence boost for him."

Tiger Moves To Fourth In FedEx Cup Standings; Haney's Job Status Seems Safe For Now

Naturally the subject came up after the finale of the Memorial where Tiger picked up a much-needed 500 points.

Q. Tiger, after Augusta most of us had Hank Haney on the unemployment line. Can you talk about what Hank does for you, especially with the changes in your swing and how maybe we were like maybe misguided in some way in running that.

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, you guys jumped the gun on that one. You know, Hank's been just absolutely phenomenal for my game and helped me through a lot. We work great together. And just like he and I understand. I mean, give me a little bit of time.

You know, most guys, when they have a surgery like that, it takes them a little bit longer to come back. People expected me to go out and win everything I played in. Maybe I'll just surprise everyone by winning a third event. I just think that Hank's been just phenomenal for my game and my development. He's one of my best friends.

"I'm sure he answered a lot of questions today."

Jim Furyk, runner up to Tiger at the Memorial, after a mightily impressive final round showing and with some transcript fine-tuning:

Q. Jim, after Charlotte and the players, Tiger wasn't really himself in those last rounds. Do you feel that there was like a vulnerability about him, or was that it?

JIM FURYK: I wish you'd all quit piecing him off. That's about all I have to say about that. Wish you'd just quit chapping him so much and make him come back and keep proving stuff.
I don't think -- you know, Tiger woods is always Tiger woods. He can't be 100% every week, but I'm sure he answered a lot of questions today.

"I'm able to get my ball count up"

While Mark Wilson and Matt Bettencourt are leading the Memorial, the focus is on all of the big names rounding into form for the U.S. Open.

Bob Harig reports that Tiger shed some new light on his knee breakdown last year.

A year ago, Woods was among the few who knew that his season was in peril. He had hoped to play the Memorial Tournament following arthroscopic knee surgery just two days after the Masters, but he learned a week before this tournament in 2008 that he had suffered stress fractures in his left leg.

"I practiced way too hard to get ready for this event," he said. "That's when I broke it."

Steve Elling says that Tiger's practices have been more limited than we originally thought:

Only in the past few weeks has Woods been able to bash balls as often as ever, because he didn't want to overstress the knee. He has only recently stopped icing the knee after rounds and instead has been able to adjourn to the range, where he can get post-round work done. Up until last month, he hadn't been able to practice after playing for two years because of his sore knee.

"I'm able to get my ball count up," he said.

Now maybe he can get his win count up, too.

Woods is gradually sneaking up on his standard form, having hit 35 of 42 fairways and 40 of 54 greens, which both rank in the top eight in the field. After starting the day tied for 24th, he moved up to a four-way tie for seventh in a group that includes Ernie Els.

Elling also reports on Geoff Ogilvy's amazing 63 Saturday after his dreadful performance Friday.

"Spend an hour taking out your aggression on a golf ball," he smiled. "It's quality alone time, Geoff time."

It might be Geoff time on Sunday night at this rate, when one Jack W. Nicklaus might be handing him a fat check and a shiny crystal trophy. Ogilvy, who won the U.S. Open three years ago, has already won the season-opener and match-play events, tying him with Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson for most wins this season.

His results of late have been largely middling, though Friday skewed more toward largely maddening.

"I woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he said. "Everything was getting to me. One of those days."

He took the sour disposition to work, too.

"I don't like carrying on like I did at times yesterday," said Ogilvy, one of the brightest players on tour. "It must have looked silly."

"Harder to bear, however, will be the dent to his pride."

Lawrence Donegan fleshes out more details on the delays with Tiger Woods' Al Ruwaya project, which he says will "not open this autumn and has been pushed back to 2010 or even later," amid claims that the real estate element of the project will be delayed indefinitely.

He also offers this conclusion about Woods:

A long-time aficionado of golf course architecture, as well as a fierce guardian of his image, he will not be happy to have his name or his first foray into the field of course design associated with anything less than an unqualified success. Even if the global economy does eventually recover, it will be some time before Dubai restores its reputation as the coming destination for the newly wealthy.

Update on 2009-06-05 18:57 by Geoff

Doug Ferguson reports that Tiger addressed the reports, saying there is a six-month delay and that the decision to move ahead will be based on the economy.

Woods said Beau Welling, his chief architect at Tiger Woods Design, has continued to travel between Dubai and two other courses under construction in North Carolina (The Cliffs at High Carolina) and Mexico (Punta Brava).

His course in Dubai had only three holes under construction when work was suspended.

"We're making sure we get the holes completed - the holes we have," he said. "I think we have three holes right now."

He said the course in Dubai needs irrigation to keep the sand in place because of arid conditions and the wind. Woods said on one of his visits, the sweeping wind "changed the whole outline of one hole."

Woods said his courses in North Carolina and Mexico are awaiting various permits, but otherwise are on schedule. The Cliffs at High Carolina is expected to be finished in the middle of 2010, while the Mexico course with spectacular ocean views is not scheduled to be completed until late 2010.

"Tiger has played no role that I'm aware of"

Jerry Stewart on the AT&T's move from Poppy Hills to MPCC's Shore Course.

Other speculation as for the change revolves around Tiger Woods. Woods, who earlier this year announced a new deal with AT&T, hasn't played in the Pro-Am since 2002. Nutt dismissed any connection between the move and Woods, at least from the Foundation's standpoint.
"Tiger has played no role that I'm aware of," Nutt said.

Ron Kroichick notes this about Poppy Hills:

At any rate, the unfortunate element of Wednesday's announcement is the impact on the Northern California Golf Association, which owns Poppy Hills. The NCGA is a strident advocate of public golf, especially through its popular Youth on Course program designed to get kids involved in the game.

The NCGA had a two-year rolling contract for Poppy to remain in the AT&T rotation. Tournament officials renewed the deal in December, meaning they apparently were committed to Poppy through 2011. Don't be surprised, then, if the NCGA challenges the legality of this move.

"We're disappointed and we don't really understand it, because we have a contract," NCGA president Michael Hexner said. "If there are issues with Poppy Hills, why didn't they mention it in December? Why didn't they mention it two or three years ago?

"We're the only course (in the tournament) people can play for $55. We're the Harding Park or Bethpage Black of these venues. We're kind of stunned they would walk away from the course that provides all the volunteers for the tournament."

You may recall I reported a while ago that Tiger was pushing for a move away from Poppy Hills. I also noted in that post--which dealt with Nicklaus putting down Tiger's ability to speak "intelligently" about design--that the Bear should be careful because Tiger did not look favorably on Jack's new Dove Mountain course in Tucson, home to the match play.

Ah how times have progressed...they are currently rebuilding most of the greens at Dove Mountain.

I wonder if Jack and Tiger talked about that Wednesday? Intelligently, of course.

"You just don't want to stretch out that ligament."

Thanks to Tuco for this Hank Gola blog item on Tiger suggesting he's hitting the ball shorter because he hasn't stretched out the ligament in his knee yet.

Woods, who joined his idol for a Skins Game prior to Jack's memorial Tournament in Ohio, said he's still not 100 percent back.

"Absolutely, no doubt. Had to be that way," he said of favoring the joint. "Worst thing you can do is stretch out the ligament right away. The surgery would have been all for naught. That's one of the reasons it takes most athletes a lot longer to come back. You just don't want to stretch out that ligament.

"That's one of the reasons why I haven't been able to hit balls as far as I normally do, but that's coming. Each week, I'm able to hit a little bit longer. It's great. Just a little longer before I'm able to get all of that back."

"I didn't even yell fore"

Bob Harig explains the genesis of Wednesday's one-off, dare I say historic skins game featuring Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods:

Morgan Stanley is meeting its financial obligations to the tournament, but company representatives decided to downplay their role. Included was canceling the Wednesday pro-am that was to be filled with only Morgan Stanley people.

Their loss was golf's gain.

Stewart Cink will likely post more about the round with Jack, Tiger and Kenny, but he appeared to get in at least one on-course Tweet, melting hearts at LPGA headquarters.

To the fella who confused me with Camilo, "Mucho gracias amigo!"

Steve Elling shares this from the rainy round:

While the players were warming up, Nicklaus was hitting chip shots around the practice putting green as Woods was rolling putts nearby. A little too closely nearby, as it turned out.

The Bear shanked a wedge shot and the ball rolled over and nearly hit Woods in the foot, causing huge laughs from everybody.

"I didn't even yell fore," Nicklaus said.

There was plenty of kibitzing between the pair about their kids, golf course design and other topics as they walked along during the nine-hole match. When Nicklaus rolled in a birdie putt to win the first two skins, he laughed and slapped high-fives along the gallery ropes, shrugging as he said, "even a blind squirrel."

West And Tiger

I penned a Tour Talk item for this week's Golf World on the Jerry West-Northern Trust Open pairing and Jill Painter includes a note about the West announcement in her golf column (after featuring Tina Mickelson and her efforts to grow women's golf).

Though most will understandably assume this is some sort of ceremonial position for West, I was impressed with his energy and passion for the gig. And as I explained in the Golf World item, West is an L.A. icon in a star-studded city that doesn't easily fall for celebrity.

Painter quotes him on the issue of landing Tiger, who it would seem West stands a chance of luring back to Riviera thanks to their past association and Tiger's soft spot for sports icons. And all with an assist from Eddie Merrins.

"I met him when he was a teenager," West said. "His father (the late Earl Woods) wanted me to talk to him about dealing with fame. He was one of those prodigies. He was playing with Eddie Merrins at Bel Air. It's been amazing to watch his career. He's always had a good relationship with the press. He didn't really need much of a conversation with me. He was always so poised. He was brought up with such a good work ethic. His father instilled that in him."

Tiger's Al Ruwaya "Delayed"

Hardly a surprise since three years after being announced there's no golf to be played. Oh and the economy too. Justin Armsden of CNN reports:

It is understood that just six holes will be opened in September, three of which were fully grassed in May before the heat of summer, where temperatures often reach 45 degrees Celsius.

The $1 billion project being built by construction company Tatweer includes 197 "palaces, mansions and villas" over an area of 55 million square feet and was launched in 2006 to much fanfare.

"That run alone is Hall of Fame material."

The weeklies are trying to put Tiger's struggles into perspective. I would agree, though I'm surprised there hasn't been more cackling about his course management Sunday, particularly the weird decision to try for a bold shot on No. 2, when a simpler shot would have taken the water out of play. 

Jeff Rude in Golfweek:

For the moment, we’ll take a breather from theory and perception and focus on record. Woods has finished in the top 10 in his past 17 stroke-play tournaments worldwide. He has won 11 of his past 19 starts worldwide, including two majors. That run alone is Hall of Fame material.

John Huggan in Golf World:

Here's the reality: Like every other poor sap trapped within the endless mysteries and intricacies of the swing, Woods is a golfer forever doomed to toil unavailingly in pursuit of the impossible—perfection. That process has many stages, ranging from a feeling of near hopelessness to one of tingling anticipation as the quality of strike and flight gradually improves.

Right now, despite his post-tournament protestations that he is "not far off," Woods is fearful more than anything. He is a man battling a quick hook, a shot that has always caused him to flip out whenever it makes an unwanted appearance in his bag.

Report: Poppy Hills To Be Replaced By MPCC Shore Course

It was reported back in March here that Poppy Hills was on its way out as a AT&T National Pro-Am venue, a victim of a Tiger Woods edict. Naturally, I was told by many that this would never be the case but yet here we are, and voila!

Say goodbye to Poppy Hills, say hello to the Shore Course in a major architectural upgrade, so says KSBW in Monterey.

On Friday, MPCC contacted its 750 members, recommending that they accept the request to use their course for the 2010 Pro Am which could mean drawing up to 10,000 spectators to the private club every day during the tournament.

MPCC rejected a similar proposal back in 2005.

So what has changed? Supporters said they need the attention to attract new membership since the economy has tanked.

Proponents believe the Monterey Peninsula Foundation would benefit the most. The foundation raised more than $8 million last year for local charities. Organizers said a long-term relationship with the exclusive country club would help the foundation secure its goal in increasing grants 25 percent to $10 million by 2014.

And make Tiger more likely to play.

The general manager at Poppy Hills said one reason behind the potential venue change is AT&T wants a more prestigious location for the 25th anniversary of the Pro Am this next year.

"The prestige is more the celebrities that are there and pros and great charity work that's done. I don't know if it's the golf course so much though it's Pebble Beach. That's where they end up and that's the big ticket in the draw," Todd Butler said.

And make Tiger more likely to play.

"Haney is often left exposed by his boss's verbal inactivity."

John Huggan admits he's not an impartial observer while filing a strong defense of Hank Haney as Tiger's coach, suggesting that the media's "sustained level of hyperbole and lazy analysis has made Haney less inclined to talk publicly about the relationship he has with Woods and his swing."

All Is Right With The World: Tiger And "Henry" Are A-OK

I tell you, I was losing sleep. Steve Elling reports that Tiger put break-up rumors with Hank Haney to rest as the sixth major approaches.