tiger;woods’;rePlacement
michael whitehead would have always remembered his first professional tournament, re-
gardless of when or where it took place. that it happens to be in the 111th u.s. open at con-
gressional cc, though, makes it a more interesting tale to tell the grandkids. add the fact
the 23-year-old got in the field when an injured tiger woods withdrew, and the story be-
comes intriguing even to non-family members. “i’m glad [tiger] listened to his doctor this
time,” joked the recent rice graduate about his reaction to getting in when tiger dropped
out. whitehead considered woods his favorite golfer long before the last few weeks, admit-
ting that occasionally during classes he would pull out his computer and watch youtube
05
videos of tiger’s swing. “i’m not tiger’s replacement,” whitehead said when asked about
his newfound notoriety. “i’m just the guy that got in when tiger withdrew.” the biggest
challenge for whitehead will be keeping the moment from becoming too big, but a cheering
section of rice alumni with congressional ties—including club members trevor randolph
(congressional’s reigning men’s champ) and Jim duke, both former ru golfers—can only
help. “we’ve dubbed the place the ‘owls’ nest,’ ” whitehead said. “it’s very comfortable to
have friendly faces around.” with some sage advice, perhaps whitehead’s pro debut can
wind up even more memorable than it already is sure to be. —Ryan Herrington
dom furore
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