Tiger Woods may be out for the season, but he never is far from our thoughts. Here are some musings on the situation:
POY: Who will be the 2008 Player of the Year? Why of course, it will be Woods.
In just six starts, Woods won four tournaments and $5,775,000 in earnings. In the majors, he won the U.S. Open and finished second in the Masters.
Nobody is going to touch Woods unless he gets really hot, wins at least the British Open or PGA Championship and a bunch of other tournaments. Besides Woods, Phil Mickelson is the only player with multiple victories this year with two. But Lefty has been inconsistent (only five top-10 finishes in 14 starts) and is going to have to step it up in the next two majors to be considered.
The last time a golfer won player of the year honors while entering only six tournaments? It was Ben Hogan, who went 5-for-6 in 1953 with victories in the Masters, U.S. and British Opens.
Ford Frick: The joke going around is that the winner of the next two majors will have an asterisk put after his name: “* — Tiger Woods not in the field.”
It will feel that way, but the fact is there are majors where Woods hasn’t been a factor. You just have to dig a little to find them. Last year, he finished 12th at the British Open.
Still, you can bet one of the first questions asked to the winner will be about Woods not being there.
No rust: Yes, it was amazing that Woods won the U.S. Open with stress fractures in his leg and a bad knee. But let’s consider something else: He basically did it after not hitting a shot for two months.
That’s just as incredible. Tour players are fanatical about practice, spending hours hitting balls. They need to play tournaments to keep their games sharp.
However, Woods not only didn’t play an event leading up to the Open, his practice routine was limited to hitting only 50 balls. He should have been beyond rusty. Yet he won.
Truly amazing.
No ride: The United States has lost the last two Ryder Cups by identical 181/2-91/2 scores — and that was with Woods on the team. Imagine how ugly it will be without him?
Actually, Woods has been a mediocre Ryder Cup player as evidenced by his 10-13-2 record. He never has embraced the competition, so it might not be as big of a loss as it would seem for captain Paul Azinger.
Still it won’t be the same without Woods.
If you’re Azinger, do you want Woods joining his buddy Michael Jordan as a cheerleader at Valhalla in Louisville? Probably not. Woods’ presence would detract from the other players.
Jordan, though, still is welcome.
The justice: Watching Tim Herron play the other day made me think how things don’t always make sense. The press guide lists Herron at 5 feet 10 inches, 210 pounds, but that’s an airbrush figure if ever there was one. His nickname “Lumpy” says it all.
Yet Herron keeps on playing while the player voted Men’s Fitness magazine’s fittest man in America, Woods, is out for the season. Explain that.
Best ever: After he won last Monday, Woods said it was his best victory ever. Then he amended it somewhat and said it ranked with his title in the 1997 Masters.
In my mind, the best still is his first major. Not only did he obliterate the field by 12 shots en route to setting to a scoring record at Augusta National, but there also was the social significance of him becoming the first African-American to win the green jacket. The final round still is the most-viewed golf broadcast of all time, signaling the beginning of a new era.
But last Monday was pretty thrilling too.
Return of Wie: Even with Woods out, there still is one player out there who can get people focused on golf again. Michelle Wie is on the comeback trail and she has qualified for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open in Minnesota.
If the 18-year-old somehow wins after a lost 2007 season, it will be front-page news.
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Sherman’s shots
Ed Sherman wraps up the weekend in golf:
Jeff Sluman: Congratulations to the Hinsdale resident, who won for the first time on the Champions Tour. He captured the title in the Bank of America Championship.
Stewart Cink: He finally broke through, winning the Travelers on Sunday. Don’t look now, but Cink ranks third on the money list behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson with $3,718,671.
Kevin Streelman: The Wheaton native had his chances, but he couldn’t make a move. Still, he claimed his first top-10 finish and his biggest check: $150,000. For the season, he ranks 125th on the money list with $389,416.
Vijay Singh: He couldn’t summon a final-round charge. He is winless since March 2007.
Eun-Hee Ji: Yet another success story from South Korea, as she won for the first time at the Wegmans LPGA.
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esherman@tribune.com
