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'It's horrible' American Express Championship postponed until Friday
Updated: Wednesday September 12, 2001 11:24 AM
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Tiger Woods was on the back nine of his practice round at Bellerive Country Club when he first learned about the terrorist attacks, informed by a retired FBI agent in charge of PGA Tour security. Only later did the magnitude hit him. "Look at this. I've got goosebumps," Woods said Tuesday, chilled by looking at hundreds of tiny dimples on his right arm. Other players camped in front of TV sets in the clubhouse, or walked out to the practice range to get their mind off an attack that brought sports to a standstill and threatened to cancel the World Golf Championship event. "This is a sad, sad day in America," Woods said somberly, repeating the phrase twice more as he stood in front of his locker. Padraig Harrington of Ireland found himself going through the motions as he hit balls. Stuart Appleby didn't feel like signing autographs, and couldn't understand why anyone would ask for one amid such tragedy. Bernhard Langer watched the news, then played his practice round. "You can't hide your head in the sand and cry all day," he said. "But I felt like it." The tour postponed Thursday's start of three tournaments, and said canceling them was not out of the question. The American Express Championship will begin Friday with 36 holes, followed by 18 holes each on Saturday and Sunday. The Tampa Bay Classic and the Buy.com Tour event in Oregon will have 18-hole rounds Friday and Saturday, with 36 holes on Sunday. The Senior Tour event in North Carolina is a 54-hole tournament that will start Friday.
LPGA Tour commissioner Ty Votaw said all his players were accounted for, although he has not decided what to do with the Safeway Classic in Oregon, which starts Friday. The U.S. Golf Association canceled two sectional qualifiers in the New York area for the U.S. Mid-Amateur, and said it would let the quarterfinalists from the U.S. Senior Amateur in St. Louis and the U.S. Senior Women's Amateur in Pittsburgh decide whether to proceed. "We will continue to monitor this situation and make any further adjustments to our tournament schedules that appear to be appropriate or necessary," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement. Adding to the somber tones in St. Louis was that American Express, the title sponsor, has corporate headquarters near the bottom of the World Trade Center in New York where hijacked airlines plowed into the Twin Towers, causing them to topple. Several company officials were at Bellerive on Monday to watch Woods -- who has a five-year endorsement deal with American Express -- conduct a clinic. "A lot of their executives left last night to go back to New York," Woods said, his voice trailing off. Twenty-one players in the 67-man field were stranded across the country, unable to get to St. Louis because air traffic had shut down across the country. Phil Mickelson was on his way to Houston to talk about winning last year's Tour Championship. Tour officials said he was diverted to Austin, Texas. PGA champion David Toms couldn't get out of Louisiana. Davis Love III got as far as Atlanta. Jesper Parnevik was in New York. Michael Bodney, senior vice president of international affairs for the PGA Tour, said that would be a factor when deciding whether to play the tournament this week. "If you don't have a field here, it's difficult to play an event," he said. St. Louis has not had the world's best players in nine years, dating to the 1992 PGA Championship won by Nick Price. He was still in south Florida. The gallery was relatively small, and not many players ventured onto bending, tree-lined fairways for practice. Some of them didn't want anything to do with golf. "It's horrible," Ernie Els said. "We're here at a golf tournament, and I can't even think about golf right now. No way. I'm sick." Els' wife and daughter were in London, preparing to fly home to South Africa on Wednesday night. Chris DiMarco wanted to go home to see his wife and child, but he was stranded in St. Louis. Asked whether he thought he would play this week, he replied, "Will the tournament be played or will I play?" "Life is a lot bigger than sport," DiMarco said. Still, somes players tried to keep their routines, if for no other reason than to take their minds off the attacks. Harrington got in his rental car and tried to find a decent radio station. He heard the same, shocking news every time he pushed a button. He is sensitive to terrorism because of the numerous attacks in Northern Ireland. "There is a feeling in the air of tragedy," he said. There was a greater feeling of uncertainty. Whatever happens this week, one of the events up in the air is the Ryder Cup, scheduled for Sept. 28-30 at The Belfry in England.
"We're supposed to leave in 13 days," Jim Furyk said. "It's
an important event. It's the Olympics for us. But there are more
important things in life."
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