Tiger Woods Beats 128 Golfers At Torrey Pines
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- Category: iG Columns
- Published: 2018-01-29
All In All, It Was A Fairly Successful Return For Tiger Woods, One That Perhaps He Can Build On. Especially Since It Appears He Didn't Hurt Himself - AP Photo
By Alfie Lau
Perhaps it’s fitting that for four days of competition at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, the one, only and biggest story was fans fighting to get a look at World No. 647, a golfer who hasn’t played on the weekend on the PGA TOUR for more than 29 months, and didn’t shoot a round better than (-2) 70 during the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open.
Yup, Tiger Woods was the biggest story at the tournament, another comeback attempt that has to be deemed a success in so many ways, but because Alex Noren and Jason Day are still tied after five playoff holes, the actual winner of the tournament won’t be decided until Monday morning.
Noren, Day and Ryan Palmer all finished at (-10) for the tournament, with Palmer being eliminated on the first playoff hole when he could only make par at the par-5 18th while Noren and Day made the first of three birdies on that hole.
After the two each birdied 18 again, Day had two very good chances to win, over-reading his birdie putt on the par-3 16th, the 3rd playoff hole, and then leaving his birdie putt on the par-4 17th inches short. In almost complete darkness, they played the 18th again, with both making birdie again.
It was an especially long day for Noren, as he played in the final group and Noren, Palmer and J.B. Holmes played 18 holes in six hours, lowlighted by Holmes taking almost 10 minutes to decide to lay up on the 18th, just 239 yards from the hole after his drive and needing an eagle to crash the playoff. Holmes made birdie to solidify solo 4th place, which no doubt warms the heart of Chip Beck and Ian Poulter, golfers who’ve also eschewed victory in favour of money.
Noren and Day will decide the winner some time Monday, but there’s no doubt the big winner on Sunday, and ever day of the tournament, was Woods. An overall T23 finish, no rounds over par, no injuries recurring, no chipping yips, no former 'adult film' stars doing tell-all interviews on Jimmy Kimmel Live (well, not talking about Tiger Woods, that we know of).
A roller coaster three birdie and three bogey final round for Woods showed glimpses of the greatness that won the man 14 Majors. And afterwards, Woods took many positives from the round and the week. “Very pleased,” said Woods when asked to grade his week. “After not playing for a couple years and coming out here on the Tour playing a solid four days, I fought hard for these scores. They weren’t like drive down the middle, hit it on the green, two-putt, one of those yawners. This was a lot of fight.”
You can definitely say that, as Woods only hit 17 fairways all week, tying his career worst driving performance with the 2005 Genesis Open. Perhaps that record will be in jeopardy in two weeks time when Woods tees it up for the next time at Riviera and a tournament which benefits his foundation.
And for the crowds who got to see Woods play for real this time – not a silly season, 18-man invitational in the Caribbean - it certainly brought back good memories of the 2008 US Open, won at Torrey Pines by Woods and still to this date, his most recent Major.
“To see some of my friends from high school out here, and the people are absolutely fantastic all week,” said Woods. “They were loud, they were excited, but they were very respectful. It was nice to play in front of people like that.”
One of those people was not like the other people, simply because he’s a finely tuned 6'-6" tall athlete. Golden State Warrior Andre Iguodala, a huge golf fan who had just played the Boston Celtics on Saturday, flew up to watch Sunday’s final round at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Iguodala, who scored a mere 4 points in 28 minutes of action, waited almost 28 minutes on the 3rd tee while Tiger Woods, in a group with Hideki Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari, were amongst three groups stacked like cordwood on the hilltop teeing ground overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Also on the teebox was Abbotsford’s Adam Hadwin, who along with playing partners Tom Hoge and Danny Lee, had to wait for the leaders of the tournament, the final group of Noren, Palmer and Holmes, to play just their third hole in their final round. With the Hadwin and Woods groups the first to tee off the 10th hole, it meant long waits all throughout their back 9, which led to some interesting ways to burn the time.
Woods sidled up to Iguodala to talk, while fans implored Iguodala for selfies. And when Tony Finau came by to play the sixth hole, he greeted Iguodala warmly and for once, was dwarfed on a golf course by a man taller than him.
After an interminable wait, Hadwin, who couldn’t get anything going in his first 11 holes, with just two bogeys and 9 pars, went on to make his third bogey of the day, misjudging the swirling wind and leaving his iron short in the front bunker. While Hadwin would make his lone birdie of the day at the par-3 8th, all it meant was a (+2) round of 74 and a middling overall finish of (-1) and a tie for 35th place that was probably undone by having to play amidst the circus that is playing in the group before Tiger Woods.
Corey Conners, who started the day at (-6) could have just shot par to guarantee a top-10 finish, but his (+4) round of 76 was not unusual on an unseasonably hot San Diego day where the winds started howling and golfers had no idea where their balls would go. Ben Silverman finished at (+6) and Nick Taylor at (+10), forgettable weekend finishes after such promising starts on the Thursday and Friday.
The only upside for Hadwin and Taylor is that with protected top-125 status on the PGA TOUR, they can head for the Waste Management Phoenix Open secure in the knowledge they’re safely in the field.
Not so lucky and having to get to Phoenix for Monday qualifying are Conners and Silverman, Web.com graduates with too low a priority to get into Phoenix. They’ll fight with more than 110 hopefuls at McCormick Ranch on Monday for just one of three spots into Phoenix.
Other Canadians teeing it up at McCormick Ranch include former B.C. Amateur champion Jared du Toit, who had to shoot 64 in a pre-qualifier last week; David Hearn, who missed the cut in San Diego and one Michael Weir, from Sandy, Utah. The former Masters champion is trying to find a game, any game, and hopes that Augusta magic from 2003 translates to Scottsdale on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Farmers Insurance Open will finally crown its champion, the fourth time in a decade that a tournament has taken an extra day in the paradise that is San Diego.
About The Writer:
Alfie Lau has been a contributor to Inside Golf for several years and is making his annual pilgrimage to Torrey Pines for part of the PGA TOUR's West Coast Swing. He can be reached at www.twitter.com/AlfieLau