Tiger Woods tuning up for Hazeltine
Never underestimate the heart of a champion
By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 07/07/2009
Tiger Woods has the PGA Championship in his sights. When last seen golfing in a Major, Woods missed the cut at the British Open in July.
After round one last week at the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan, Woods, after a 71, was in position to potentially miss the cut in back-to-back starts, something that has never happened since he turned pro in 1996.
The leader after round one was Steve Lowery, who had shot a nine-under 63; that meant Woods was eight shots back with 54 holes to play. Woods is still recovering from major reconstruction of his broken left leg, which cost him half of last year, and he missed both the British Open and the PGA Championship.
His standards are in a world made only for Tiger. Woods stormed back over the next three days, shooting 63 on Friday, his lowest competitive round on the PGA tour in four years. He then shot 65-69 on the weekend to win his third Buick Open and his fourth tournament of the year.
Woods has now won 69 PGA Tour events, third only to Jack Nicklaus with 73 and Sam Snead with 82.
He also is closing in on becoming the first-ever $1 billion career athlete. Woods has won 14 Major Championships, and remember that he played Hazeltine very well the last time the PGA Championship was here. He birdied the last four holes and finished second to Rich Beem.
Woods is number one in wins (four), which is twice as many as anyone else. On tour, he’s number one on the PGA money list and number one in Fed-Ex Cup points, so it appears Woods is getting close to his form when he captured the 2008 U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate.
Buick (General Motors) for a long time was Woods’ title bag sponsor. However, the car industry has fallen on hard times. In fact, Buick is giving up sponsorship of PGA Golf for the first time in 58 years.
Buick had been the tour’s longest running sponsor. However, 16 percent unemployment in Michigan indicates just how tough times are in the industry.
Larry Fitzgerald can be heard weekday mornings on KMOJ Radio 89.9 FM at 8:20 am, and on WDGY-AM 740 Monday & Saturday mornings at 7:50 am and Fridays at 3:50 pm; he also commentates on sports 7-8 pm on Almanac (TPT channel 2). Larry welcomes reader responses to lfitzgerald@spokesman-recorder.com , or visit www.Larry-Fitzgerald.com .
