It’s Tiger Woods' World Once Again
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- Category: iG Columns
- Published: 2018-01-26
A Younger Tiger Smiles As He Strides Off The Tee Box, Having The World By The Tail. It Appears It's Still Tiger's World Upon His Latest Return - Image Courtesy Pixabay
By Alfie Lau
If you needed any more evidence that Tiger Woods is the straw that stirs all drinks on the PGA TOUR, here’s a scene after his opening round 72, even par on the South Course at Torrey Pines for the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open.
Woods does a live television hit for Golf Channel and then a scrum with print, broadcast, Internet and who knows what else. These two hits go on for about 10 minutes, by which time the actual leader of the golf tournament, Tony Finau, shows up at the Golf Channel backdrop for his interview.
Finau, who shot a tidy (-7) round of 65 on the North Course, with nine birdies and two bogeys, waits patiently for Tiger to finish, and since Woods has to literally walk right past Finau to get back to the Lodge at Torrey Pines, media officials expect some reporters to stop and get some thoughts from the LEADER of the golf tournament.
No such luck, as we all follow Woods, as he shows a different side to his humanity, whereby he stopped to sign autographs for kids who had waited for perhaps 10 years (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but find me many kids who got Tiger’s autograph in the last two decades).
The obligatory quotes from Finau: “It’s always nice, always great to see your name at the top of the leaderboard,” said Finau. “That’s where you want to be, no matter the situation, no matter which round you’re in.”
There’s no doubt that Tiger and his latest comeback is the biggest news in golf, because why else would we all be fixated on his one great shot on the day? At the long par-3 16th, Woods hit a smooth six-iron to six inches, to get himself back to even par for the day after bogeys at the first and fifth holes had him reeling early before birdies at 6 and 10 got him back to even. Woods made a hash of the par-5 13th, fanning his par putt left and setting himself up for the almost-ace on 16.
“It looked good from the tee, but obviously we can't see anything land from back there,” said Woods. “It was just a full 6-iron, just tried to throw it up in the air as high as I could because these greens are really springy and it felt good, looked good, and then we listened for some noise.”
It’s a measure of Tiger’s former greatness that we wait with bated breath for him to conclude a round that has him currently outside the cut line, a T84 that sees him tied with Canadians Nick Taylor, Mac Hughes and Corey Conners, all at even par 72; just one stroke behind Adam Hadwin, who shot a (-1) round of 71; and 3 strokes behind the top Canuck, Ontario’s Ben Silverman, who carded his (-3) 69 on the North Course for a T15 spot on the leaderboard.
And while we conclude the Canadian content part of this story, Woods is nine strokes clear of Brantford, Ontario’s David Hearn, who shot the only round in the 80s, a (+9) round of 81 on a windless day for low scores at Torrey Pines.
Nope, it’s back to Woods, as he exhibited glimpses of the power he once had, but what’s amazing is that almost every young buck on the PGA TOUR plays that way now. Patrick Reed, who played with Woods, looks nothing like the lithe 14-time Major Champion, but his (-4) round of 68 seemed almost too easy, with Reed’s silky smooth putting looking a lot like the Woods of a decade previous.
“It was fun, it was fun to compete again,” said Woods. “It was fun to be out there. We had a great pairing today. Pat (Reed) played great, Charley (Hoffman) was solid all day and I was probably a little bit rusty.”
Woods can joke about his game and how he’s yet to figure out how to play the first hole on the South Course, as his opening bogey brought back memories of the bogeys and double bogeys he made there in 2008 en route to winning the US Open, still his most recent Major triumph.
“I don’t carry it 330 in the air,” said Woods of the optimal tee shot he needs to play that hole. If he had that, he could have played it like Jamie Lovemark, one of the first players on the course, who hit it just 303 yards on the right, right in front of the media centre. After taking a free drop, Lovemark wedged and scrambled his way to a garden variety par that almost nobody cares about because it has nothing to do with Tiger Woods. That’s just how large a shadow Woods casts on any tournament he enters.
There was also a sense amongst fans and media that they had to see Woods on the South Course Thursday because there’s a good chance that’s the only time he plays the course this week. Sure, he gets the relatively easier North Course on Friday for his second round, but if it’s calm and the greens remain soft, the cut, which currently sits at (-1), is going many strokes lower than that.
Nobody seems to care that Americans Ted Potter Jr. and Ryan Palmer, just one stroke back of Finau, both shot their (-6) rounds of 66 on the tougher South Course and can presumably feast on birdies on Friday on the North Course like Finau did Thursday.
And yes, we’ll conclude with another scene from the media centre, as officials tell media that there are transcripts for 2017 PGA Rookie of the Year, local San Diego native Xander Schauffele, who shot a (-2) 70. Nobody moves, because it has nothing to do with Woods.
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