Tiger Woods This Year

I think it is remarkable that Woods keeps winning, with all the problems he has anymore.

MIAMI, March 5 (Reuters) - Tiger Woods was in confident mood after winning his third title of the year in five starts at the Doral Championship on Sunday.

"All I can do is beat whoever is in the field, and that's it," American Woods told reporters after completing a one-shot victory at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa despite a bogey-bogey finish.

"That's all I can do. I'm trying to do my part by putting myself there and winning tournaments, trying to improve each and every week and each and every year."

Asked to rate his confidence with the first major of the year, the U.S. Masters, five weeks away, the world number one replied: "Pretty high, considering I've put myself there in virtually every event, which is nice."

Woods, who successfully defended a PGA Tour title for the 13th time with a closing three-under-par 69 at Doral, believes he is a better all-round player than 12 months ago.

"I'm able to hit so many more golf shots now than I could last year at this time, and on top of that, I could fix it while I'm out there playing," he said after clinching his 48th PGA Tour career victory.

"Last year at this time, I had so many things I was still working on that I had a hard time fixing it because if I hit one shot, it could be three or four different things I needed to work on to try and rectify that shot.

"Now I know exactly what to do and I can rectify it on the very next shot."

SECOND OVERHAUL

The U.S. Masters and British Open champion completed the second overhaul of his swing since he turned professional in 1996 with his coach Hank Haney before the start of last year.

"It's fun to see that all of the hard work that Hank and I have been putting into it is starting to pay off where I'm able to play consistently day after day," Woods said.

"That's why I work as hard as I do is to be as consistent as I have been. It's nice to see it, because we spent countless hours away, none of you guys see it. It's fun to see it coming together like this."

Woods, who won the Buick Invitational in San Diego in January before clinching the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic the following week, added there was still some work to do before launching his Masters defence at Augusta National on April 6.

"That's the beauty of it, that I can be better tomorrow than I am today," the 30 year old said. "The checklist is certainly smaller, but still, I've got some work to do.

"Just keep refining what we're working on and making sure it's where I can go out there and hit shots and trust it.

"Flight the ball correctly either way, up, down or right to left, left to right. I want to make sure I can do that on call." (Writing in Los Angeles by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

What problems are those, just out of curiosity....

He was changing his stance, his swing, etc., I think because as he grows older his body changes somewhat. He appears to be back in stride this year.

Tiger's father has died.

May 3, 2006, 4:20PM
Earl Woods, Father of Tiger Woods, Dies


By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

?- Earl Woods, who was more determined to raise a good son than a great golfer and became the architect and driving force behind Tiger Woods' phenomenal career, died Wednesday morning at his home in Cypress, Calif. He was 74.

"My dad was my best friend and greatest role model, and I will miss him deeply," Tiger Woods said on his Web site. "I'm overwhelmed when I think of all of the great things he accomplished in his life. He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend. I wouldn't be where I am today without him, and I'm honored to continue his legacy of sharing and caring."

A habitual smoker who had heart bypass surgery in 1986, Woods was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1998 and was treated with radiation. But the cancer returned in 2004 and spread throughout his body.

Last month, he was too frail to travel to the Masters for the first time.

The last tournament Woods attended was the Target World Challenge in December 2004, when his son rallied to win and then donated $1.25 million to the Tiger Woods Foundation that his father helped him establish. The Tiger Woods Learning Center, another vision inspired by his father, opened in February.

Woods decided not to play in the Wachovia Championship this week in Charlotte, N.C. Two of his best friends on tour, Mark O'Meara and John Cook, withdrew from the tournament and flew to California to be with him.

Jack Nicklaus, who also was 30 when his father died, said he had long "admired and related to the close bond" shared by Tiger and Earl.

"My father was my best friend, my mentor and perhaps my greatest support system. Earl was all of that to Tiger," he said.

Earl Woods was more than a golf dad, more than a zealous father who lived vicariously through his son's achievements.

He had played catcher for Kansas State, the first black to play baseball in the Big Eight Conference, and he had been a Green Beret for two tours in Vietnam. But he felt his true purpose was to train Tiger, and he watched his son evolve into the dominant player of his time _ the youngest player to win the career Grand Slam _ and one of the most celebrated athletes in the world.

"I knew Tiger was special the day he was born," Woods said in a May 2000 interview with The Associated Press.

Woods introduced Tiger to golf by swinging a club as his son watched in a high chair. Tiger appeared on the "Mike Douglas Show" at age 2, played exhibitions with Sam Snead and Nicklaus, and his television appeal was solely responsible for quantum gains in PGA Tour prize money.

Even so, Woods said he never intended to create a champion golfer.

"I make it very, very clear that my purpose in raising Tiger was not to raise a golfer. I wanted to raise a good person," Woods told Golf Digest magazine about his book, "Training a Tiger: A Father's Guide to Raising a Winner in Both Golf and Life."

Woods gave his son freedom to develop a love for golf on his own, not letting him play unless his homework was done, making him call his father at work to ask if they could practice. Along with the games they played, Woods taught him to be mentally strong by jingling change in his pockets and warning him of water hazards when his son was in the middle of his swing.

It all worked.

Tiger Woods set records that might never be broken by winning three straight U.S. Junior titles, followed by three straight U.S. Amateurs. At age 30, he already has won 48 times on the PGA Tour with 10 major championships, and he set a PGA Tour record by going seven years and 142 consecutive events making the cut.

In the forward to his father's book, Woods said: "In retrospect, golf for me was an apparent attempt to emulate the person I looked up to more than anyone: my father. He was instrumental in helping me develop the drive to achieve, but his role _ as well as my mother's _ was one of support and guidance, not interference."

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said Woods will be remembered for providing Tiger every opportunity "to become the world's best golfer and an outstanding representative of the game and its values."

Foremost for Woods was raising a son who could influence life beyond golf. Woods was black and his wife, Kultida, whom he met during one of his tours to Vietnam, was Thai and Chinese.

Tiger Woods won twice in his first seven PGA Tour events after turning pro in 1996 at age 20 and was named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. Woods predicted greatness for Tiger on and off the course, telling the magazine that his son "will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity."

"He's the bridge between the East and the West," the father said. "There is no limit because he has the guidance. I don't know yet exactly what form this will take. But he is the Chosen One. He'll have the power to impact nations. Not people. Nations. The world is just getting a taste of his power."

Perhaps the lasting image of Earl Woods came the next spring, at the 1997 Masters, when he stepped onto the 18th green and wrapped his arms around a 21-year-old son who shattered records at Augusta National, a watershed victory that changed the appeal of golf and sent him to the greatness his father had always predicted.

Earl Woods was born March 5, 1932, in Manhattan, Kan., the youngest of six children. His parents died by the time he was 13.

His father wanted him to play for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues, and his mother stressed education. Woods wound up going to Kansas State, graduating in 1953 with a degree is sociology.

Woods did two tours during the Vietnam War as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. It was his second tour that shaped the latter part of his life:

He met Kultida Punsawad, who was working as a receptionist in Thailand, and married her in 1969. He fought alongside Lt. Col. Nguyen T. Phong of the South Vietnamese army, a friend he nicknamed "Tiger" because of his courage and bravery. Woods promised Tiger Phong that he would name a son after him.

Eldrick "Tiger" Woods was born Dec. 30, 1975.

Earl Woods moved to Cypress, Calif., _ to the house where he died _ and set up a makeshift practice range in the garage with a mat and a net, placing his son in a high chair as he practiced.

The education went beyond swinging a club.

"I tried to break him down mentally, tried to intimidate him verbally, by saying, 'Water on the right, OB on the left,' just before his downswing," Woods once said in an AP interview. "He would look at me with the most evil look, but he wasn't permitted to say anything. That's the frustration. He couldn't say a word, but he always had an escape word. He never used it.

"One day I did all my tricks, and he looked at me and smiled," Woods said. "At the end of the round, I told him, 'Tiger, you've completed the training.' And I made him a promise. 'You'll never run into another person as mentally tough as you.' He hasn't. And he won't."

Woods was proud of saying he never left his son with a babysitter, but his goal was to eventually let Tiger run his own life.

"I had pulled back, one item at a time," Woods once told the AP. "Instead of going to several tournaments, it was a couple of tournaments, then one tournament. All of a sudden, he was running everything. I stood there and watched it happen. Because that was my job _ to prepare him to leave."

Besides his wife and Tiger, Woods is survived by three children from his previous marriage.
____________________________

RIP, Mr. Woods.

When I asked, "what problems?" back in March, I was unaware of his Dad's state of health.

Sad for Tiger.

Woods prepared for emotional comeback
By Lewine Mair in New York




Talking in the build-up to this week's US Open at Winged Foot, Tiger Woods explained that restarting golf following the death of his father, Earl, on May 3 had been one of the hardest things he had had to do in his 30 years.



Woods had been fearful of how, with his golf having been so interwoven with his relationship with his father, the memories would come flooding back with every shot. They did - but instead of prompting more tears they brought a smile to his face. "I can honestly say," he marvelled, "that every time I looked back to my childhood, I found myself smiling. Not everyone has that. I was lucky."

Woods, who was greatly moved by the letters and messages of support he had received from all around the world, struck a chord when he gave the details of his first shots, back in the fifth week of his nine-week lay-off. "On the first day," he began, "you never miss one. On the second day, you're hitting all over the planet. The thing that counts is how you're doing on the third day. I did pretty good - and I've got progressively better."

Asked how Earl would have felt about him taking so long away, Woods' reply brought a significant insight into what has made him the player he is. Woods said his father would have told him: "Only play when you're ready. If you're not ready, you won't 'be there'."

He added that his father had always gone on about the number of events he had on his schedule. "If, say, I played 20 tournaments in a year, he would ask, 'Why are you playing so much?' "

Woods and Phil Mickelson, who is trying to win a third successive major this week, were concentrating on the little shots from the six-inch rough around these greens yesterday, with Mickelson planning to use five wedges - ranging in loft from 64 degrees down to 51 degrees - in his bag. Only if it is wet will he discard a wedge and go with the two drivers he used at the Masters in April.

At Winged Foot there is no question of the ball sitting up in the greenside rough: it subsides every time. "It's so deep," said Woods' bodyguard, "that you can lose a shoe in it as easily as a golf ball." Michael Campbell added that competitors have been discussing the dangers of a player, or his caddie, inadvertently treading on a ball and incurring a two-shot penalty.

Woods was improvising all the time. On one occasion, when his ball was up against a ridge at the back of the fifth green, he made little more than a quick stab at the ball, lifting the club up after the hit instead of following through. "He sees each of these little shots differently," marvelled his coach, Hank Haney.

In truth, the only apparent difference in Woods and caddie Steve Williams as they played their penultimate practice round was that Williams, after nine weeks without a bag on his back, appears to have put on a few pounds.

Luke Donald, one of nine Englishmen in the field this week, confirmed that the US Open represents his best chance of winning a major - and that Winged Foot marries particularly well with his straight-hitting game. No one is giving Colin Montgomerie much of a chance, meanwhile, after his homeward nine of 43 last Sunday in Austria. Then again, the bookies have even rated Campbell, the defending champion, at 100-1.

Is Campbell insulted? Not at all. "That's great," the New Zealander said. "Let Tiger, Vijay [Singh] and Phil have all the attention. I don't care what you guys think or write or say, but I know I have a chance."

World number one Tiger Woods has missed a cut at a Major for the first time in his professional career as he failed to qualify for the final rounds of the US Open Golf Tournament in New York.

Woods totalled 12 over par after two rounds of the US Open on Friday, while the cut was at nine over par.

This is the first time after 37 majors since 1997 that woods has missed a cut at a major.

However, he can draw comfort from the fact that this was his first outing in nine weeks - a break he took on account of his father's death.

The other big names to miss the cut are defending champion Michael Campbell, Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen.

"I'm pissed. That pretty much sums it up right there. I thought I was playing well enough to shoot an under par round today and I didn't do that," said Woods.

"Well it's not something that you want to have happen. I've gone I guess while without missing one (weekend cut) and unfortunately I missed this one and hopefully I can win the British," he added.

Meanwhile, one of the two Indians to feature at the US Open has made the cut.

Jeev Milkha Singh sneaked in at nine over par, which was the cut off point, but Jyoti Randhawa was not so lucky. His 12 over par was three shots off the mark just like Tiger Woods. (AP)

Tiger won the British open, now back to back wins, this day

He complained about the amateur photographers he and playing partner Sergio Garcia had to contend with during Sunday's final round.

"We had it at every hole," Woods said after a closing 67 gave him a two-shot victory over Chris DiMarco and the 11th major of his career.

"We had never seen anything like it before. It wasn't the professional photographers, it was the gallery. They had cameras or camera phones."

Woods said he and Garcia, who finished with a disappointing 1-over 73, were constantly distracted.

"The cameras kept going off while we were over the shot or preparing to hit the shot, or even hitting the shot they were going off," said Woods, who also won the British Open at St Andrews in 2000 and 2005.

"It was very frustrating for Sergio and I. Because of all the undue delays that we had with our caddies and the marshals trying to get a situation where we could play, we got put on the (slow play) clock.

Aug. 20, 2006, 6:55PM
Woods takes PGA for 12th major title


By DOUG FERGUSON
Associated Press

MEDINAH, Ill. ?- No tears, no sweat.

One month after an emotional victory in the British Open, Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship with a ruthless display of efficiency Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a five-shot victory and his 12th career major.

Now, only Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors stand in the way of Woods' becoming golf's greatest champion.

Woods started with a 10-foot birdie to seize the lead. He finished with a tap-in par to match his scoring record at the PGA Championship, finishing at 18-under 270 and walking off the 18th green with a broad smile.

That wasn't the case at Hoylake last month, where Woods cried on his caddie's shoulder after winning his first major since his father died in May.

This time, it was another routine celebration. Woods plucked the ball out of the cup and put it in his pocket, thrust his fists in the air and gave a thumbs-up sign as he walked over to pick up the Wanamaker Trophy.

"This is sweet. This is really sweet," he said.

He became the first player to win the PGA Championship twice on the same course, having beaten Sergio Garcia by one shot at Medinah seven years ago.

This one was never close from the start.

Woods twice made birdie putts over 40 feet, and the margin might have been greater had he not aimed for the middle of the green and lagged for par over the closing holes.

Shaun Micheel won the battle for second place, about the only drama on a sunny afternoon outside Chicago.

Even the race for the Ryder Cup fizzled, with no change in the standings.

So much for those worries about Woods after he missed the cut at the U.S. Open.

He now has won his last three tournaments, the first time he has done that in five years. And he became the first player in history to go consecutive years winning at least two majors.

Each one moves him that much closer to the 18 majors Nicklaus compiled over 25 years. Woods is at a dozen after only 10 years on the PGA Tour, and there doesn't appear to be anyone capable of stopping him.

Luke Donald was tied for the lead going into the final round at Medinah and didn't make a single birdie, closing with a 74 to finish in a tie for third at 12-under 276 with Adam Scott (67) and Garcia (70).

"He's just too good," Micheel said after a 69, although he never got within five shots of Woods after the fourth hole. "Unless you're at the top of your game, you just can't play with him."

Woods is now 12-0 when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead.

"Tiger just doesn't back up," said Steve Stricker, who made a late bid for the Ryder Cup. "He doesn't let anybody get close to him, especially in the last round."

So dominant was this performance that Woods made only three bogeys the entire week, including a harmless one on the par-3 17th hole over Lake Kadijah when he was playing it safe. All that cost him was the scoring record in relation to par. He settled for 18 under, the same score he posted at Valhalla in 2000.

It was the fifth major that Woods won by at least five shots. He now has won his 12 majors by a combined 56 shots, while Nicklaus won his 18 majors by 44 shots.

It always amazes me the way that Mike Lupica (a sports writer I see on ESPN's Sports Reporters on Sunday mornings) downs tiger Woods. He sounds like so many of the Tiger Haters that have been heard throughout his phenomenal career - "Well, he ain't the greatest yet", "He still hasn't proved it to me", or Mickleson's more consistent", yadda yadda yadda.

Last Sunday Lupica went on record picking "the field" (as in, anyone but Tiger) over Tiger in this latest tournament, because of some contrived observation about his consistently with a driver lately.

I wonder if they'll shut the hell up WHEN he passes Nickalaus' record 19?

I don't watch Lupica. But, I know lots of "regular people" who down him the same way. Without any basis for the criticism they just want someone else to win that badly. I don't get the animosity. When Singh or Mickleson win, I feel good for them, because thay worked for it. Same with Tiger. He doesn't get it handed to him, and they should recognize that.

Tiger has been playing since he was old enough to walk. He works out and studies the course. He has trmendous inate talent. He deserves his wins.

4 straight bogies yesterday. And he's still only one shot off, as play begins this day.

It wasn't pretty, but, . . .


AKRON, Ohio - Tiger Woods celebrated his 10-year anniversary of turning pro Sunday by winning for the 52nd time on the PGA Tour, making an 8-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole against Stewart Cink to win the Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods won for the fourth straight time, a streak that began at the British Open and shows no sign of ending.

This one looked to be in doubt, however, when Cink made up a three-shot deficit over the final three holes, then had Woods on the ropes the first three holes of the playoff. But with rain pounding Firestone South, Cink hit into a bunker on the 17th hole, and never got a chance to putt for par when Woods made his birdie.

It must be nice being Tiger Woods.

He used to do tournaments selectively, but lately seems bent on winning them all.

Maybe he needs the money? He's only making $60 million a year. That's barely enought to live on!