Tiger time
Woods a heavy favorite at Match Play Championships
Posted: Monday February 22, 1999 05:22 PM
| |
Woods is one of three golfers to win the NCAA Championship and U.S. Amateur in the same year (1996), joining Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus. AP |
By Benjamin Berman, CNN/SI
Just when everyone said he was slumping, just when experts were calling him "second best", just when he wasn't living up to the myth he has become. Tiger Woods is back.
Actually, he never left.
Like a putt left an inch shy of the cup, the winner of this week's PGA event is gimme. Tiger Woods should have little trouble. It's his tour, his game and his sport. Everyone else is just teeing up.
This week the PGA heads to Carlsbad, Calif., for one of the most anticipated tourneys of the '99 season, the Match Play Championships. One of the three new World Golf Championships, this event takes the top 64 ranked golfers in the world and answers the question, who is the best one-on-one on the PGA Tour?
Woods is the obvious choice. Nobody is better at match play. Although he struggled in his only Ryder Cup appearance, going 1-3-1 in 1997, Woods loves this format.
He is the only golfer ever to win three consecutive U.S. Amateurs (1994-1996), and that event's format was match play.
Woods, who was the greatest amateur since Bobby Jones, holds the U.S. Amateurs record with 18 match-play victories and a career winning percentage of .909. He is also one of three golfers to win the NCAA Championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year (1996), joining Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus.
His amateur days are long over, but Woods has had little trouble continuing his success as a pro. He has eight PGA titles in a meager 2 1/2 years.
He exploded onto the scene in 1996, winning two events in eight tournaments played and made every cut. Despite his few appearances, Woods still won the 1996 PGA tour Rookie of the Year and the 1996 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
In 1997 he was even better, and his myth grew to an unheard-of roar. He did it all in '97, setting a new mark for earnings with $2,066,833 and easily the PGA Player of the Year honors.
This past weekend at the Nissan Open, Woods finished at 12-under, good enough for a three-way tie for second. AP |
|
But the highlight of his second campaign was his first appearance in a major championship as a pro. At the 1997 Masters, Woods torched the field, winning by a tournament-record 12 strokes and setting a Masters mark with an 18-under-par 207. He also became the youngest winner at 21 years, 3 months and 14 days.
Woods also took over the No. 1 spot in the Official Golf Rankings in mid-June of 1997, becoming the youngest ever to be on top.
At the 1998 Presidents Cup, another big-time match-play event, Woods went 2-3, but 1-0 in singles, beating Greg Norman (1-up) on the final day. He earned $1,841,117 that year, competing in just 20 tournaments. In '97, Woods made was a top-ten finisher 13 times and missed one cut.
Woods, still ranked No. 1, will be the No. 1 seed at the Match Play Championships. Some have argued he deserves the No. 2 seed and red-hot David Duval should be No. 1. Duval has been on fire and is an elite golfer, but Tiger has proved over the last two weeks that he is still the PGA's best.
While everyone gawked at Duval's 59 and two titles in his first two tournaments this year, Woods kept rolling along.
Woods always plays in front of ridiculous sized galleries and never has true golf conditions -- be it a drunken fan with a gun at the Phoenix Open or a fan with a camera at the Buick Invitational -- Woods is still the best.
In 1999, Woods is second in earnings with $1,000,187 in just five events. He is third in all-around statistics on the circuit, including:
Second in scoring with an average of 68.55
Second in birdies with an average of 4.47 per round
Second in driving distance with an average of 293.6 yards
Fourth in total driving
Perhaps the most telling stat of the year for Woods is that he has played 16 of 19 rounds under par -- 13 in the 60s.
Why Tiger Woods is a
Match Play Championship favorite |
|
Ranked No. 1 in the world
8 PGA titles in 2 1/2 years
1999 currently third in overall stats
1998 earned $1,841,117 with 13 top-ten finisher
1997 PGA Player of the Year
1997 set a new mark for earnings with $2,066,833
1996 PGA tour Rookie of the Year
1996 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
1997 Masters champion, winning by a tournament-record 12 strokes and setting a Masters mark with an 18-under-par 207
Only golfer ever to win three consecutive U.S. Amateurs
18 match-play victories and a career winning percentage of .909
Has made 52 of 54 cuts in his pro career
| |
| |
It appears he is putting it all together at the right time too. After shooting a tourney-record 62 two weeks ago at the Buick Invitational to take the third-round lead, Woods fired a 65 on Sunday to smoke the field and take the title.
And over this past weekend at the Nissan Open, Woods was in contention all week. And maybe he wins the tournament, if not for a sliced approach on 18. He did finish at 12-under, good enough for a three-way tie for second.
With his experience and success in match play, as well as his hot streak of late, Woods is the obvious choice for player to watch this week at the Match Play Championships.
| 
