Woods receives another 'gift' from Olazabal
We're four weeks into a new season, and here's the news flash: Other than Bubba Watson and Nathan Green, not much has changed. It always comes down to putting, and Tiger Woods is still winning golf tournaments.
Long-hitting Watson, long shot Green and the rest of the tour are in Phoenix this week for the FBR Open, but Woods is already in Dubai, having flown halfway around the planet after a playoff victory in the Buick Invitational. After 24 days of not touching a club, he is refreshed, enthused -- and already talking about The Masters. "It's nice starting off the year with the checklist not as long to get ready for Augusta than it was last year," Woods said Wednesday. "Last year I had to make some major changes prior to Augusta to be ready, and this year it is more just fine-tuning, which is great."
There could not have been a more appropriate way for Woods to begin his second decade as a pro. This ending might've added a few more gray hairs to that 30-year-old head, but ratings were up 146 percent over a year ago and, in the end, "60 Minutes" had to hold as Woods and Jose Maria Olazabal headed to their second hole of sudden death.
Tiger admitted he had no right winning this one. He shot 72 in the final round. That's usually a score that gets lapped on Sunday. His speed was off on the greens, and he three-putted three times in the final round. He missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole that would have let him win outright. But there he was at the end, holding the trophy, smiling for the cameras, being the Cheshire Tiger.
When you win 47 events, as Woods has, there have to be a few gifts along the way. Tiger received one with tied up with a big bow when Olazabal -- one of the most respected Ryder Cup players in European history -- missed a 4-footer that would have extended the playoff. The scene on the cliffs of La Jolla, Calif., was a replay of Woods' last victory. At the 2005 American Express Championships at Harding Park in San Francisco John Daly spasmed on a 3-footer, handing Tiger career victory No. 46.
What's lost in both victories is that Woods made putts he needed to make to be in a position to win. At Harding Park, Woods rattled one in from 3 feet on the first hole of sudden death. At Torrey Pines, he made an 8-footer on the 72nd hole to get in the playoff. "It was one of those things where I've had that putt before and I know that putt doesn't break as much as it looks," Woods said of the putt that sent him into overtime. "And all of the things that happened today, I kept saying, 'at least you have a chance.' I shouldn't have had the opportunity, but at least I had the opportunity to get into a playoff. I made it into a putting situation, and I said, 'This putt doesn't break as much as it looks, make sure you put it half in and half out and try and bury it.' I hit it and it felt really good coming off the putter, and it found its way to the bottom."
Woods' immediate reaction on both greens was a frown. Tiger hates to lose. But he doesn't like to win when the game's given to him. "J.D. is a friend of mine, and Ollie has been a friend since I was an amateur," Woods said. "I feel bad. I want to win it with a birdie. I had a chance to make birdie on 18 on the first playoff hole to win it right there, [but I] just hit a bad putt. You don't ever want to see anyone miss a short one like that."
Was Woods' presence a factor in these meltdowns? Not based on recent history. Daly rushed a short putt on the 72nd hole of the 2004 Buick Open and lost to Vijay Singh. Olazabal twice missed from inside 5 feet at the Bell South Classic in 2005, once on the final hole of regulation, once in a playoff, allowing Phil Mickelson the opportunity to win.
It was just Sunday pressure that did in Olazabal and Daly -- the same Sunday pressure that affected Green, Sergio Garcia, Mickelson and Arjun Atwal at Torrey Pines. Somehow, Tiger makes the putt when he has to, and when he doesn't, he manages to escape.
"To be honest, it doesn't matter who beats you," Olazabal said. "[Tiger]'s No. 1, obviously, but ... it [ticks] you off the same way."
Tim Rosaforte is a senior writer for Golf World magazine
