AROUND THE GREENS
Woods-less Grand Slam would be a major loss
By Bill Kwon
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| Tiger Woods has the British Open and PGA Championship left to avoid being shut out at the majors this year.
Associated Press |
It gave Furyk, who owns a home overlooking Kapalua's Plantation Course, a double dip in upcoming tournaments in Hawai'i. He secured a spot in the 2004 Mercedes Championships at Kapalua and also became eligible to join Masters champion Mike Weir in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Po'ipu Bay Resort in December.
If the Mercedes is an exclusive event for winners only, the PGA Grand Slam is an even more difficult event to crash. You have to win a major to qualify.
Po'ipu Bay has been the favorite playground for Tiger Woods, who has won the PGA Grand Slam the past five years. That still doesn't get him into the event. He needs to win one of the two remaining 2003 majors — the British Open or the PGA Championship — for a chance to make it six in a row.
If Weir or Furyk wins another major this year, it opens up a spot in the elite foursome for an alternate. Even in this category, it doesn't look good for Tiger. He's fifth in the official PGA of America point standings determining the alternates with 107 points, trailing Ernie Els (143), David Toms (135.2), Vijay Singh (122.5) and Nick Price (120).
Obviously, the sponsoring PGA of America is getting a bit antsy. The PGA Grand Slam is clearly not the same without Tiger.
"That event needs Tiger Woods," said Mark Rolfing, a golf commentator for NBC television. "Everybody in Hawai'i needs to root for him to win the British Open or the PGA Championship."
Since 1997, local golf fans have had a chance at a Tiger sighting at least twice a year. It will be a huge void if he doesn't make it to Po'ipu Bay this year when the PGA Grand Slam will be held on a weekend (Dec. 5-6) for the first time. And there would go the TV ratings.
Woods once held all four major trophies — his personal grand slam, he said — but now his cupboard is bare. He has gone four straight majors without a victory.
"Slump? What slump?" said Woods, pointing out that he has won three tournaments this year. It's because so much is expected of him. Clearly, the oh-fer in majors has to be bugging him.
Rolfing thought Woods played too conservatively in the U.S. Open, especially on Saturday.
"He knew he had to make up ground, yet on the par-5 at the first tee, he pulled out a 3-wood. I couldn't believe it. He hit one driver that day, on the 18th hole," Rolfing said. "Eduardo Romero was out-hitting him on every hole. On the 13th, Romero was 65 yards away, Woods 152."
Despite his three victories this year, it's not the same Tiger, according to Rolfing. "I don't think he's fully recovered from knee surgery."
Figure on Woods winning either the British Open at Royal St. George's next month or the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., in August. Or both, to save the PGA Grand Slam from becoming a minor showcase for major winners.
Having Tiger in a tournament is always a major TV event, so at least next January's Mercedes Championships will be assured of a good rating with his appearance. The tournament will have an old home-week feel to it, according to Rolfing.
Besides Woods, who won the Mercedes twice, other friends of Kapalua include 2001 Mercedes champion Furyk and Fred Couples and Davis Love III, who both won the Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua Invitational at the Plantation Course.
For Couples and Love, it's a special homecoming because they didn't qualify to play there last January, having failed to win in 2002. It had been an even longer wait for Couples, who won the Shell Houston Open for his first win in five years.
Couples did TV commentary at the last Mercedes event and then hung around to play in the Sony Open the following week, missing the cut. He hasn't missed a cut since.
"Fred told me during the Sony Open that he felt like his game was coming back but he didn't know how he'd do if he was in contention on the last day. He got that under his belt at Houston," Rolfing said. "Fred's happy to be playing rather than announcing the Mercedes next year."
Love, too, has turned his game around this year, Rolfing said.
"At the Grand Slam last year, Davis said he was going to totally change his goals for 2003," Rolfing said. "His goal always had been to get ready for the Masters. He set smaller goals, like practicing more and playing more often. So I'm not surprised he's doing well this year."
Throw in Furyk, who posted bookend wins at the 1995 Lincoln-Mercury Kapalua Invitational and the 1996 United Airlines Hawaiian Open, and it sure has the makings of a heckuva homecoming at the 2004 Mercedes Championships.
Bill Kwon can be reached at bkwon@aloha.net.
