Golf Capsules: On The Fringe - Woods back in Australia, minus buzz
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The woman keeping score for Tiger Woods in the final round of the Australia Masters did well to contain her emotions. She looked down at the boy holding the sign with the scores and wanted to make sure he understood his good fortune.
"This," she whispered to him, "is the holy grail in golf."
Is it still? Perhaps the broader question is will it ever be again?
Woods returned Down Under on Tuesday with a slightly subdued reception. There were still media at the airport, although Geoff Ogilvy did not recall the same kind of TV report he heard last year: "The plane has landed, but we haven't seen him walk out of the plane yet!"
There were no helicopters hovering over the fairways, because Woods did not bother coming out to Victoria Golf Club. And when he tees off Thursday, he most likely will be playing before fewer fans.
The tournament sold out last year six weeks in advance — as much as Aussies love sports, most buy tickets the day of an event. Now, tickets are still for sale. Tournament official David Rollo said 55,000 tickets have been sold for the four rounds, and he would be disappointed if sales didn't top 70,000. They topped 100,000 last year.
That's to be expected, and not because of the year Woods had off the golf course.
The world's No. 1 player had not been to Australia since the 1998 Presidents Cup. Since then, he had won 72 times around the world, 14 majors and was being debated as the greatest golfer of all time.
Now, he is No. 2 in the world and hasn't won in 51 weeks.
"It's easier to hype up someone who hasn't been here for 10 years," Ogilvy said. "He was here just last year. A lot has happened in Tiger's life in the last 12 months, but I think if there is any lack of hysteria, it's probably due to the fact that he was here last year rather than anything else. Don't you think? You guys want me to say that his aura is all gone and he's no good anymore. But I don't buy that."
It was Australia where the National Enquirer linked Woods to New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel, and more allegations of infidelity came gushing out in the weeks following Woods' middle-of-the-night car accident Nov. 27 outside his Florida home.
That scandal is what kept Woods out of golf for nearly five months and ultimately led to his divorce. It didn't do much for his golf game, either, for this is the longest he has gone without winning.
Woods acknowledged as much last week after he tied for sixth in the HSBC Champions, which for him constituted progress. Reflecting on a summer of finishing back in the pack, he said, "I was dealing with a lot of things off the golf course in that period of time, which was the most difficult. I also was trying to play, which was tough."
He was talking about constant meetings with attorneys while trying to work out a divorce settlement, which was official Aug. 23.
There has not been much talk about his personal life since.
If the mystique is missing, it has more to do with the scores he shoots than the secret life he was leading.
Cameron Percy played with Woods in the final round at Kingston Heath. Contacted about a month later, after seeing Woods' image splashed across the TV worldwide for reasons no one ever imagined, Percy was asked what kind of reception Woods could expect if he returned to defend his title in Australia.
"I can't see this being an issue," Percy said last December. "Our biggest idol is Greg Norman — not much difference there. The golfing public just loves to watch his golf. We have athletes in trouble for one thing or another. Once they're on the sporting field, it's all right."
That's the problem.
There hasn't been much about Woods' game that has been worth watching.
Woods tied for sixth at Shanghai for the second straight year, with one big difference. Last year he was five shots off the lead; this year he was 12 shots behind. In his last eight tournaments, Woods has finished an average of 13 shots behind.
That's the significance of the Australian Masters this year.
Woods has been a defending champion every year since he was at least 12, maybe longer. But if he doesn't win at Victoria, a sandbelt course that he will not see until the pro-am Wednesday, an entire year will have passed without him hoisting a trophy. To what extent he can ever repair his image, it starts with winning.
Some think he is close. Rickie Fowler played behind him at the Ryder Cup, when Woods played the final seven holes in 7-under par, and said, "It was pretty special. He looked like he was strutting around the course like I used to see on TV."
Robert Allenby played behind Sunday at Sheshan International and thought he was "super close."
"I think next year is going to be a great year for him," Allenby said. "I have no doubt in my mind that he'll win a major next year."
Ernie Els played with him two rounds in Shanghai and another round in Boston.
"It looks like he's in a better place," he said.
Maybe so, but Woods is not where he wants to be, and certainly not where anyone is used to seeing him.
Fans at the Australian Masters might not turn out in droves because they just saw him a year ago.
Those who do might not recognize him now.
Doug Ferguson covers golf for The Associated Press.
Watson helps PGA team rally for win
HENDERSON, Nevada (AP) — Bubba Watson made an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to cap a comeback victory for the PGA Tour team in the Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge on Tuesday.
Watson, Dustin Johnson and Boo Weekley finished a combined 14 under in the two-player, best-ball format that allowed each team to discard one score per hole. The group shot 11 under over the final eight holes to overtake the Champions Tour team of Nick Price, Bernhard Langer and Kenny Perry, which finished at 13 under at Rio Secco Golf Club.
The LPGA team of Cristie Kerr, Suzann Pettersen and Natalie Gulbis finished third at 11 under after winning the event last year.
With the PGA Tour team trailing by two heading to the par-5 17th hole, Johnson reached the green in two and made an 8-foot putt for eagle.
"I knew I needed to make something happen on 17," Johnson said.
Watson followed with a birdie at 17 as the PGA Tour group moved into a tie for the lead, erasing a four-shot Champions Tour lead after 11 holes.
Watson then put his 150-yard approach at the par-4 18th hole in good position on the right side of the hole. He converted the putt and celebrated with a huge fist pump.
"Having a chance to make that putt is something you dream about," Watson said. "When you actually make it, you don't know what to do."
Watson, who enjoyed his best season on the PGA Tour this year with more than $3 million in earnings and his first victory, said he wasn't thrilled with his second shot.
"My wedge backed up more than I wanted it to, but it was a good uphill putt and I made it," Watson said.
That forced Langer to hit a 12-footer with huge break to force a playoff, and the putt ran left of the cup.
"I was really high up and had far more break than (Watson)," Langer said.
The PGA Tour won the event for the eighth time, collecting a $500,000 purse in the made-for-TV event featuring three-person teams from the PGA Tour, Champions Tour and LPGA. Both the Champions Tour and LPGA have six wins.
The Champions Tour won $270,000 for its second-place finish and the LPGA took home $230,000 for placing third.
Johnson and Watson each shot 4-under 68, tied with Perry for low individual honors.
Through 11 holes, the PGA Tour looked to be in deep trouble, including Weekley posting an 8 at No. 11. Weekley's score was cast aside under the new format, keeping the PGA Tour team within striking distance.
"This format is just right," Watson said. "One guy, one lady, you're gonna have a bad score. You can throw it out and it makes it more competitive."
Notes: Mickelson to start in the desert, far away
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Phil Mickelson plans to start the 2011 in the desert, as he has done so often in his career.
Just not the California desert.
Mickelson, who only recently began to expand his global horizons, said he is planning to make the Abu Dhabi Championship his first tournament of the new year. It will be held the same week as the Bob Hope Classic.
"I’ve wanted to go to the UAE (United Arab Emirates) for a while, and this is the perfect time," Mickelson said, adding his entire family and swing coach Butch Harmon will be going with him. "It should give me great weather to work on my game, and it gives me a chance to get to the UAE. The whole family is going, and they’re pretty excited about it."
This figures to be the second straight year that the Bob Hope Classic gets more attention for who’s not there.
A year ago, the PGA Tour granted nine conflicting releases to players to compete in Abu Dhabi. Tournament officials at the Hope were not thrilled, although they overlooked the fact that six of those players were European and all nine were European Tour members. What caused such consternation is one release went to Anthony Kim, who went to high school in the Palm Springs area.
Mickelson is a two-time champion at the Bob Hope Classic, although he has lost interest in recent years when the tournament started moving away from its traditional rotation of golf courses.
The four-time major champion is taking an interest in playing overseas, and making the most of it. He is immensely popular in China, where he is building golf courses and teaching academies. There also is appearance money to be made, part of the game for years.
"I feel like there’s an obligation as a player to try to bring the game to different parts of the world," Mickelson said. "The UAE, especially Abu Dhabi, and China seem to be our greatest growth opportunities."
Mickelson will go straight from Abu Dhabi to Torrey Pines for the start of his busy West Coast swing. He plans to play Phoenix, Pebble Beach and Riviera, but is undecided on the Match Play Championship. He said that would depend on his kids’ spring break.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: The PGA Tour is starting to compile its ballots for player of the year, with Jim Furyk sure to be one of the candidates after his three-win season and capturing the FedEx Cup.
Furyk already has wrapped up one such award.
The PGA of America honor is based on points, which Furyk has clinched with 60. He received 10 points for each of his wins at Innisbrook, Hilton Head and the Tour Championship, and 18 points for being second on the money list and 12 points for being fifth in the adjusting scoring average.
Matt Kuchar won the money list and the Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average, although he has only one victory. Phil Mickelson was the only PGA Tour member to win a major, but he didn’t win anything else.
One thing Furyk and Kuchar share is a perk that often gets overlooked. Any PGA Tour player who wins the money list or the FedEx Cup receives a five-year exemption on tour.
KODAK CHALLENGE: Troy Merritt is in decent shape to keep his PGA Tour card as a rookie, at No. 121 on the money list, and some $37,000 clear of No. 125. He’s in even better shape to claim the $1 million prize from the Kodak Challenge, which goes to a player’s best cumulative score on 18 out of 30 holes from various tour events.
But it won’t be without a fight.
Merritt has a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler and Aaron Baddeley, and both of them are coming to Disney. Baddeley withdrew from the Australian Masters, while Fowler is coming to Florida after tournaments in Malaysia and Shanghai.
"I didn’t want to just give it to Troy," Fowler said with a grin. "Got to make Troy work for it."
For the 21-year-old Fowler, it’s more than just $1 million.
He already has had a dream rookie season — more than $2.6 million in earnings, well inside the top 50 in the world ranking, a spot on the Ryder Cup team. The one thing missing is a trophy, and that’s another reason to go to Disney.
"I’m not in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions," Fowler said, savvy enough to know the winners-only tournament at Kapalua only changed its name a few days earlier. "This is another shot at having a chance to win."
CADDIE NIGHT: One of the best nights of the year is in Shanghai when the European Tour loopers gather downstairs at the hotel bar for their "Caddie of the Year" program.
Caddies vote throughout the week for the best caddie and a few other awards.
The main winner was Ken Comboy, voted caddie of the year. He works for Graeme McDowell, who had a decent year — U.S. Open champion at Pebble Beach, two European Tour victories and that massive birdie putt at Celtic Manor to give Europe victory in the Ryder Cup.
John McLaren, now working for Luke Donald, got the award for worst dressed.
And the best switch of the year might have been unanimous — Craig Connelly, who began the year working for Graeme Storm until he got an offer to caddy for a young German named Martin Kaymer. They went on to three wins, including the PGA Championship.
It was standing room only for most of the night, a festive occasion that was attended by most of the caddies at the HSBC Champions no matter what tour they work, along with a host of players that ranged from Lee Westwood, Donald, McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Ryan Palmer and Rickie Fowler.
CARD TIME: Disney is the final PGA Tour event of the year, and the last chance for players to finish among the top 125 on the money list to secure their full cards for next year. Troy Matteson, already exempt for 2011 because of a win last season, is at No. 125 and has a lead of nearly $13,000 over Briny Baird.
Two players with a lot riding at Disney spent last week in Shanghai.
Heath Slocum is at No. 30 on the money list by $132 over Ryan Moore. That’s significant because the top 30 on the money list get into the Masters next year, and Moore already is eligible for Augusta National.
Richard S. Johnson of Sweden is No. 131 on the money list, and he qualified for the HSBC Champions by winning in Sweden. He was due to arrive in Florida sometime Monday, then try to shake off the jet lag and try to earn the $50,000 that might be necessary to finish among the top 125 on the money list.
DIVOTS: Tiger Woods failed to win a World Golf Championship for the first time since the series began in 1999. ... Padraig Harrington made an albatross on the 14th hole of the third round at the HSBC Championship, the seventh one of the year on the PGA Tour. ... With the Presidents Cup in Australia next November, the European Tour is planning to push back its season-ending Dubai World Championship to the first full week in December.
STAT OF THE WEEK: Of the four majors and four World Golf Championships, Americans had only two victories this year — Phil Mickelson (Masters) and Hunter Mahan (Bridgestone Invitational).
FINAL WORD: "When I’m comfortable and when I’m happy, there’s not many people than can play better than me." — Sergio Garcia.
-- Doug Ferguson
Golf Glance
All Times EST
PGA TOUR AUSTRALASIA
Australian Masters
Site: Melbourne, Australia.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Victoria Golf Club (6,886 yards, par 71).
Purse: $1.52 million. Winner's share: $273,200.
Television: Golf Channel (Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m.).
Last year: Tiger Woods won at Kingston Heath, closing with a 4-under 68 for the last of his 82 official worldwide victories. Greg Chalmers was second, two strokes back.
Last week: Italy's Francesco Molinari won the HSBC Champions in China for his first World Golf Championship title, holding off top-ranked Lee Westwood by a stroke. Woods tied for sixth, leaving him winless in a PGA Tour season for the first time in his career. ... Australia's David Bransdon won the Australasian tour's WA PGA Championship at Bunbury, matching the course record with a closing 8-under 64 for a two-stroke victory.
Notes: Last year, the presence of a woman alleged to have been Woods' guest at his Melbourne hotel led to revelations of infidelities that derailed his professional life and ended his marriage to Elin Nordegren. Woods is making his second-to-last start of the year. He also will play in own Chevron World Challenge on Dec. 2-5 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. His sixth-place tie last week in China was only his third top 10 of the year and his best finish since a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open. ... Australian stars Geoff Ogilvy, Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley also are in the field along with Sergio Garcia and Camilo Villegas. Allenby won in 2003 and 2005, and Baddeley took the 2007 title. ... The par-4 opening hole is 257 yards. ... The NSW PGA Championship is next week at Wollongong.
Online: http://www.australianmasters.com.au
PGA Tour Australasia site: http://pgatour.com.au
LPGA TOUR
Lorena Ochoa Invitational
Site: Guadalajara, Mexico.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Course: Guadalajara Country Club (6,638 yards, par 72).
Purse: $1.1 million. Winner's share: $220,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday, 4-6:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 5-6:30 a.m., 4-6:30 p.m.; Sunday, 5-6:30 a.m., 4-6:30 p.m., 10 p.m.-12:30 a.m.).
Last year: Michelle Wie won her first LPGA Tour title, beating Paula Creamer by two strokes. Wie shot 70-66-70-69.
Last week: Top-ranked Jiyai Shin won the Mizuno Classic in Japan for her second LPGA Tour victory of the season and eighth overall, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Yani Tseng.
Notes: Tournament host Ochoa is making her first tour start since retiring in April. The Mexican star has 27 LPGA Tour victories. She grew up playing at Guadalajara Country Club, still her home course. ... Wie won the Canadian Women's Open in August for her second tour title. ... Tseng has a 14-point lead over Ai Miyazato in the player of the year race. Shin, skipping the tournament, and Na Yeon Choi are tied for third, 18 points behind Tseng. In 2008, Angela Stanford won the inaugural tournament, beating Annika Sorenstam and Brittany Lang by a stroke. ... The tour is off the next two weeks. The season-ending LPGA Tour Championship is Dec. 2-5 at Grand Cypress in Orlando, Fla.
Online: http://www.lpga.com
PGA TOUR
Children's Miracle Network Classic
Site: Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Courses: Walt Disney Resort, Magnolia Course (7,516 yards, par 72) and Palm Course (7,010 yards, par 72).
Purse: $4.7 million. Winner's share: $846,000.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m., 7-10 p.m.).
Last year: Stephen Ames won the season-ending event for the second time in three years, closing with an 8-under 64 and beating Justin Leonard and George McNeill on the second hole of a playoff.
Last week: Italy's Francesco Molinari won the HSBC Champions in China for his first World Golf Championship title, holding off top-ranked Lee Westwood by a stroke. Tiger Woods tied for sixth, leaving him winless in a PGA Tour season for the first time in his career.
Notes: The tournament ends the Fall Series. The top 125 on the money list will earn full 2011 exemptions. The next 25 will receive conditional status. Woody Austin is 123rd with $727,352, followed by. No. 124 Michael Allen ($726,631), No. 125, Troy Matteson ($723,328), No. 126 Briny Baird ($710,337), No. 127 Aron Price ($704,102), No. 128 Bob Estes ($701,158) and No. 129 Michael Connell ($694,884). ... Ames is sidelined by a back injury. ... Stewart Cink is making his first start since the Ryder Cup. ...In 2008, Davis Love III won the last of his 20 PGA Tour titles, finishing with a 64 for a one-stroke victory. ... The final two rounds will be played on the Magnolia Course.
Online: http://www.pgatour.com
PGA EUROPEAN TOUR/ASIAN TOUR
Singapore Open
Site: Singapore.
Schedule: Thursday-Sunday.
Courses: Sentosa Golf Club, The Serapong (7,300 yards, par 71) and The Tanjong (6,577 yards, par 72).
Purse: $6 million. Winner's share: $1 million.
Television: Golf Channel (Thursday-Sunday, 1:30-5 a.m., 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.).
Last year: England's Ian Poulter led wire-to-wire, beating Liang Wenchong by a stroke.
Last week: Italy's Francesco Molinari won the HSBC Champions in China for his first World Golf Championship title, holding off top-ranked Lee Westwood by a stroke. Tiger Woods tied for sixth, leaving him winless in a PGA Tour season for the first time in his career.
Notes: Phil Mickelson is making his fourth straight appearance in the event. He has an endorsement deal with tournament sponsor Barclays. ... Poulter and Molinari also are in the field along with two-time winner Adam Scott, U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer, Padraig Harrington, Y.E. Yang, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Europen Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie. ... The final two rounds will be played on The Serapong course. ... The tours will team again next week for the Hong Kong Open. The European tour's season-ending Dubai World Championship is Nov. 25-28.
Online: http://www.europeantour.com
Asian Tour site: http://www.asiantour.com
OTHER TOURNAMENTS
Men
JAPAN GOLF TOUR: Taiheiyo Masters, Thursday-Sunday, Taiheiyo Club, Gotemba Course, Shizuoka, Japan. Online: http://www.jgto.org
SUNSHINE TOUR: BMG Classic, Friday-Sunday, Glendower Golf Club, Gauteng, South Africa. Online: http://www.sunshinetour.com
Women
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR: Women's Indian Open, Thursday-Saturday, DLF Golf & Country Club, New Delhi. Online: http://www.ladieseuropeantour.com
JAPAN LPGA TOUR: Ito En Ladies Classic, Friday-Sunday, Great Island Club, Chiba, Japan. Online: http://www.lpga.or.jp
