Now that Tiger Woods has done it once, here comes the tough part. He is expected to do it again.
And again, and again, and again. For at least the next 20 years.
The thing about greatness is that it demands more greatness. So despite being golf’s 1997 player of the year, Woods still comes into 1998 with something to prove.
Second verse, same as the first?
That’s the big question facing Woods as the PGA Tour launches its new season Thursday with the Mercedes Championships at the La Costa Resort and Spa outside of San Diego.
All Woods did during his first year on tour was turn the sporting world upside down. But this isn’t supposed to be a one-shot deal. Player of the year? Woods is supposed to be player of the next millenium.
“I would like to win as much in 1998 as I did this year, if not more,” said Woods, who won four titles, including the Masters romp.
And yet there is some degree of doubt as Woods, 22, heads into 1998. Tiger fever dropped to a boring 98.6 during the second half of 1997.
After winning the Motorola Western Open on the 4th of July weekend at Cog Hill, Woods fizzled. He failed to contend in any of his eight remaining tournaments, and even missed a cut for the first time, in the Bell Canadian Open. In the year’s last two majors, he tied for 24th at the British Open and tied for 29th in the PGA Championship. Woods also was one of the goats in the United States’ loss in the Ryder Cup, compiling a 1-3-1 mark.
Sensing some blood, “the Shark,” Greg Norman, even took a swipe at Woods.
“He’s just another golfer out there, like all of us, who is going to have his ups and downs,” said Norman, who at 42 has only one more victory in a major than Woods.
Sure, and Michael Jordan is just another shooting guard.
But clearly Woods wasn’t the same player in the second half. He lacked the consistency he enjoyed during his hot streak. The booming drives went more east-west than north-south. And the putts didn’t fall.
For all the talk about Woods’ length at the Masters, the bottom line was that he made every putt this side of Atlanta. Woods had plenty of birdie chances at the Ryder Cup, but he couldn’t buy a putt.
It was a disappointing finish to an otherwise spectacular year, opening the door just enough to let some doubt creep in.
“You can’t play well all the time, but I need to get more consistent,” Woods said. “I look back on my year, and I didn’t get as much much out of my rounds as I thought I should have. Sometimes I was too passive on certain shots, and other times I was too aggressive. Little things like that to keep a round going–I didn’t do that enough, and consequently some of my finishes have been kind of erratic.”
Woods took advantage of a onetime excuse, blaming the slump on rookie inexperience. Playing in 21 tournaments, much more than on the amateur circuit, he said he got worn down by the tour grind. By the end of the year, he was mentally, if not physically, spent.
Woods vows this year will be different. He plans to devote as much attention to his schedule as to his short game. In other words, Woods won’t be a Cal Ripken Jr. He rarely will play more than two tournaments in a row.
“It’s 10 months, and that’s three times as long as I’ve ever had to play a grueling amount of golf,” Woods said. “My scheduling wasn’t as good as I thought it could be. I plan to make up a schedule where I’ll be fresh every time out.”
Woods better be fresh because even his best might not be good enough during some weeks. He wasn’t the only player to have a breakthrough year in 1997.
Generation Next has arrived on the PGA Tour. David Duval, 26, won three in a row to end the season, while Ernie Els, 28, captured his second U.S. Open. Justin Leonard, 25, registered a resounding victory in the British Open.
Davis Love III, a veritable old man at 33, enjoyed his biggest year, winning the PGA for his first major. Phil Mickelson, 27, is looking to bag his first this year.
The tour never has been deeper, and the veterans are getting pushed aside. Time is running out on Norman to claim his first green jacket, while three-time Masters winner Nick Faldo, 40, is coming off his worst year.
“There are a lot of young players in their 20s who aren’t afraid to win,” Els said. “The youngsters believed in themselves. That’s what happened.”
It all started with Woods.
“When he won the Masters by 12 shots, that got a lot of people’s attention,” Els said. “Certainly got my attention. I just think he took the game to a little different level. You’re either going to stick with it or fall by the wayside.”
Golf’s Pied Piper will be a bit stronger in 1998. Woods has taken up lifting weights, bench-pressing 225 pounds.
“It’s something nobody else on the tour can do,” he said.
He also is expected to be playing with new clubs, changing irons from Mizuno to Titleist, for which he receives a huge fee. Beware, because several players had trouble with club switches last year–just ask Steve Stricker and Corey Pavin.
The demands, however, will remain the same, and so will the pressure. If he doesn’t dominate, people will forget Woods still is only 22. If he didn’t win another tournament until he is 25, he still would have six titles, including a Masters under his belt, which would be a great career for most players.
But Woods set the bar at the Jack Nicklaus level last year, and nothing less will suffice.
Bring it on, Woods says. He has the same expectations as he had last year, and the same he expects to have in 2018.
“I still tee it up with every intention to win,” he said. “The time that changes is the time I quit.”
