Wednesday, March 24, 2004
Woods shrugs off questions about his form - MARCH 25, 2004
Woods shrugs off questions about his form
PONTE VEDRA BEACH (Florida) - Tiger Woods went from celebrated to scorned.
He teed it up in the Bay Hill Invitational with a chance to make history as the first player to win a tournament five straight times. By the end of the week, he had his worst finish in five years - a tie for 46th that left him 18 strokes behind.
It all led to another round of questions about his game.
What is wrong with Tiger?
'I just don't understand it,' he said on Tuesday. 'That was the first time I finished out of the top 10 this year.
'Every player has his hot streaks, his lulls.
'Last week was one of those times I didn't play well. That happens.'
Still, scrutiny on the American world No 1 picked up, probably because of what is on the horizon.
Coming off three straight rounds over par - the first time he has done that in a regular PGA Tour event - he leads a field featuring 48 of the world's top 50 at The Players Championship on a course that does not forgive even the slightest misses.
Two weeks later is the Masters, the Major championship Woods has geared himself for since January, and believes he is on track to win.
'When you make a swing, you don't feel like the ball was really there,' he said.
'And you look up, and it's right where it needs to be. If you can do that more heading into a Major, you're looking good.
'I'm starting to see some signs where that's coming back.'
Now would be a good place to start.
The Players Championship, with the largest purse in golf at US$6.5 million (S$11 million), is widely regarded as the fifth Major championship.
And Woods is the only player to have won at Sawgrass and Augusta the same year.
But if he struggles this week, he will probably face even more questions about his game.
Part of that is due to his split from swing coach Butch Harmon a year ago. Dozens of players say privately that Woods needs to go back.
'Butch and I really didn't work a lot the last two or three years,' he said.
'Our biggest task was from '97 through '98, when I changed my swing. After that, it was basically kind of maintenance here and there. I've been doing that the last two years on my own.'
Even so, he is judged by a different standard from everyone else.
He was aware that last week, when world No 2 Vijay Singh and No 3 Ernie Els were never a factor at Bay Hill, it escaped unnoticed.
Els missed the cut, ending his current streak at 30. Woods' record cut streak continues at 119.
'There wasn't any mention in the paper back home that Ernie missed the cut,' he said.
Woods shrugs off questions about his form
PONTE VEDRA BEACH (Florida) - Tiger Woods went from celebrated to scorned.
He teed it up in the Bay Hill Invitational with a chance to make history as the first player to win a tournament five straight times. By the end of the week, he had his worst finish in five years - a tie for 46th that left him 18 strokes behind.
It all led to another round of questions about his game.
What is wrong with Tiger?
'I just don't understand it,' he said on Tuesday. 'That was the first time I finished out of the top 10 this year.
'Every player has his hot streaks, his lulls.
'Last week was one of those times I didn't play well. That happens.'
Still, scrutiny on the American world No 1 picked up, probably because of what is on the horizon.
Coming off three straight rounds over par - the first time he has done that in a regular PGA Tour event - he leads a field featuring 48 of the world's top 50 at The Players Championship on a course that does not forgive even the slightest misses.
Two weeks later is the Masters, the Major championship Woods has geared himself for since January, and believes he is on track to win.
'When you make a swing, you don't feel like the ball was really there,' he said.
'And you look up, and it's right where it needs to be. If you can do that more heading into a Major, you're looking good.
'I'm starting to see some signs where that's coming back.'
Now would be a good place to start.
The Players Championship, with the largest purse in golf at US$6.5 million (S$11 million), is widely regarded as the fifth Major championship.
And Woods is the only player to have won at Sawgrass and Augusta the same year.
But if he struggles this week, he will probably face even more questions about his game.
Part of that is due to his split from swing coach Butch Harmon a year ago. Dozens of players say privately that Woods needs to go back.
'Butch and I really didn't work a lot the last two or three years,' he said.
'Our biggest task was from '97 through '98, when I changed my swing. After that, it was basically kind of maintenance here and there. I've been doing that the last two years on my own.'
Even so, he is judged by a different standard from everyone else.
He was aware that last week, when world No 2 Vijay Singh and No 3 Ernie Els were never a factor at Bay Hill, it escaped unnoticed.
Els missed the cut, ending his current streak at 30. Woods' record cut streak continues at 119.
'There wasn't any mention in the paper back home that Ernie missed the cut,' he said.
