The Shark On The Shark: "It's amazing being the living icon"

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Charlie Rose asks Greg Norman if he would give up some of his money for more major wins and the Great White Shark says "not at all," then cites the outcrying of support he's had over the years over his losses has made him the businessman he is today.

There are several other questions about the empire that is Norman and a nice graphic and, well, it's a bit of an infomercial for no apparent reason other than giving him a chance to talk about his brand building genius. As always Norman is engaging, defends Tiger's soft mattress-induced back issues, and talks briefly about Tiger losing his intimidation factor.

“I think the longer the time goes by with him not doing it, the harder it's going to be,” Norman said.

Robert Lusetich noted Norman's repeat of previous comments in this account of Tiger's opening round at The Barclays which took only 11 hours to complete thanks to weather delays.

Haas On Tiger Talk: "His lack of winning a major is the only thing talked about, which I think is sad"

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Bailey Mosier with Bill Haas's remarks on the eve of the Barclays, addressing those questioning the state of Tiger's game by a season in which he didn't win a major.

"His lack of winning a major is the only thing talked about, which I think is sad," Haas said. "I think it's ignorant."

Tiger's Event Lands Title Sponsor

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Granted, it's a one-year deal, but a bit overdue as the annual World Challenge at Sherwood is a sweet deal for a sponsor: nice ratings, nice field, well-attended, great pro-am and for much less than a regular tour event.

It's also $4 million Tiger won't be spending this year.

For Immediate Release:

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL ASSUMES ROLE OF TITLE SPONSOR OF THE 15TH ANNUAL WORLD CHALLENGE  DEC. 2-8 AT SHERWOOD COUNTRY CLUB
 
Tickets for the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge are now on sale at www.worldchallengegolf.com
 
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (August 14, 2013) – The Tiger Woods Foundation welcomes Northwestern Mutual, a leading financial security company, as the title sponsor of the 15th annual World Challenge. The Northwestern Mutual World Challenge, held Dec. 2 – 8, 2013 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, Calif., will again welcome host Tiger Woods along with 17 of the TOUR’s best players to compete for the $1 million top prize. The tournament, co-sponsored by the PGA TOUR, benefits the college-access programs of the Tiger Woods Foundation.
 
“Northwestern Mutual has been an excellent partner over the years, and we are excited they will be the title sponsor of the World Challenge,” Woods said. “I’m really looking forward to competing this year. This event welcomes a fantastic field, and it’s always fun to come home and play in front of the Southern California fans.”

Tiger: "Is it concerning? No."

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Yes it's been five years and Steve DiMeglio shares some disconcerting numbers about Tiger's weekends in the majors, but I still think the overanalysis will be a tad excessive in the coming weeks. Most will disagree.

But for now, here's Tiger's assessment of his 2013 in majors. From DiMeglio's USA Today story:

"Is it concerning?" a dejected Woods said when asked about not winning a major in more than five years. "No. I've been there in half of them. So that's about right. If you are going to be in there three-quarters or half of them with a chance to win on the back nine, you have just got to get it done.

"I was right there and certainly had a chance to win the Masters and the British this year. The other two, I just didn't hit it good enough. Just the way it goes."

For the year, he broke 70 once in 16 rounds of majors and hasn't broken 70 in 16 consecutive weekend rounds in majors. Putting woes have been his major nemesis in the last two rounds of majors for some time. This week, however, he fought his swing, saying his takeaway was a fraction off.

The firm of Lerner, Chamblee, Nobilo and Montgomerie broke down Tiger's week on Live From.

Tiger: Fiery Muirfield Similar To Hoylake In '06

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Lee Wybranski's official Open graphic (click to enlarge)From Tiger Woods' Tuesday morning press conference, where it sounds like he and many others won't be using driver very often:

This golf course is playing similar to that. It's quick. And so far I've played a couple of days now, three days, and I've only hit a couple of drivers here. I remember Jason was playing with me the other day and he hadn't hit a driver yet. A lot of irons off the tees. Some of the holes, 4-iron was going 280. 3-iron is going a little over 300 yards. So it's quick. That's on this wind. So obviously it could change. Like what we had in '02, it could come out of the northeast and it could be a totally different golf course.

Q. Does it matter, the amount that the ball runs on the fairway after it lands has got to be the important thing?

TIGER WOODS: Yeah, it's being able to control that as best you possibly can. Downwind holes, that if you hit -- I've hit 3-wood, I'll run probably close to 80, 90 yards. Sometimes a little bit more than that. And you can chase balls that can go a long ways. And on 17 yesterday I hit 3-iron, 3-iron over the green. And granted, it's just all in the run. It all depends on where you land it. It could land into a slope and get killed or land on the backside and it could shoot forward another 40, 50 yards. And that's the neat thing about links golf, is that it's predictable, but also unpredictable at the same time.

Remembering Tiger's 81 Day In '02 Open

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Nice package of pre-Open stories from ESPN.com, starting with Bob Harig taking the weather/Tiger angle first.

Even better though was this anecdote from Steve Elkington, who reminds us how quickly things can turn at Muirfield.

He had returned to the Auld Hoose, a pub just around the corner from where he was renting a place in the nearby town of North Berwick.

"It sits just above the port there, and the harbor is so old that they have stone gates to let boats in and out,'' Elkington recalled. "After the Friday round, I go into the Auld Hoose and there's an old guy who has a silver jug that they just leave for him. They call him the harbor master, and he has this big, long beard.
"So I'm in there on the Friday night and he pulls me off to the side. 'Listen to me. The weather is going to be s--- at about 3 p.m. tomorrow.' He could tell from the current. 'I'm telling you, it is going to be s---.' ''

Elkington got out early and shot a 3-under-par 68, one of just four players to score in the 60s all day.

"I come back to the Auld Hoose and I went in the back to have a sleep in one of the rooms,'' Elkington said.

"When I came back out, two hours later, I looked out the front door, and there was a guy crawling along hands and knees trying to get in the pub, the weather was so bad. Now I'm watching the scoreboard and I'm going from 40th to 30th and then into the top 10. It was a great break.''

Gene Wojciechowski talks to Mark O'Meara about old buddy Woods. O'Meara and Woods, carpooled to Muirfield with him in '02. Tiger vowed a Sunday 65 to O'Meara after the 81.

"There is something about Tiger Woods: There is no quit in him -- zero," says O'Meara. "I understand injuries. I understand personal issues. I get all of that. But that guy right there is the ultimate competitor."

On the drive home that day, Woods told O'Meara that he already had a plan for Sunday's round. He said he was going to shoot 65 and get back to even-par for the tournament.

O'Meara was on the range that Sunday when he noticed Woods was already 4-under on the front nine. He turned to his caddie and said, "See? There you go. That's typical Tiger Woods. Never give up."

Woods shot 65 and got to even-par but -- and O'Meara loves reminding everyone of this -- finished one stroke behind O'Meara.

Accompanying the package is a segment that includes a hilarious shot of a fan battling his umbrella and overall misery. Maybe I find it hilarious because the forecast this week is looking promising still...for now.

Tiger On Muirfield: "These fairways have some fire to them."

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18th fairway at Muirfield Sunday (click to enlarge)Early Muirfield assessment by Tiger Woods, courtesy of Bob Harig:

"It's obviously playing a lot quicker than it did in '02,'' Woods said. "These fairways have some fire to them. The greens aren't up to speed but I'm sure they will get there. It's been dry over here. This place is firm. We're hitting the ball a long ways downwind.''

As an example, at the par-4 eighth, Woods took a 3-iron off the tee on the doglog hole and hit it too far. He switched to a 4-iron to keep the ball in play.

"That 4-iron just went 285,'' he said.

Punters: Elbow Fine, Tiger Woods Tells TigerWoods.com

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Tracking down Tiger Woods while he waiting to purchase a latte** in Terminal 5 at Heathrow where he awaited a connecting Flybe flight to Edinburgh, a TigerWoods.com cub reporter managed to get the World No.1 on the record about his injured elbow.

As posted on TigerWoods.com:

I started chipping and putting a little over a week ago and I'm full go for the British Open. I'm very confident that my left elbow strain won't be a problem and I will be able to hit all the shots I need to hit. That's why I took the time off, so it could heal, and I would feel comfortable playing again. I'm still taking anti-inflammatory medication for my elbow and getting treatment, but the big thing at Muirfield Golf Club will be to avoid the rough.

Woods is 8-1 or 9-1 depending on which bookmaker you should so desire.

The reporter at TigerWoods.com also elicited many comments from Woods about links golf and his recent AT&T National event at Congressional.

**Sources tell me exclusively he was buying a one-week supply of Pimms in the duty free shop along with a Keep Calm Carry On refrigerator magnet for his rental house this week.