two pieces of lead tape to his
blade. a 68 to cantlay’s 74
put the kid in his place.
woods did, however, revert
to one unacceptable bad
habit: a tomahawk driver
fling following an errant tee
shot on his 10th hole friday.
and there’s much work to
do on his game, with a paltry
driving distance (he averaged
280.6 yards, 21st in the field)
leaping out as a huge concern for someone who once
reaped advantages both
mental and physical from his
ability overpower a course.
still, a solid showing at this
point—he finished t-30,
after three straight rounds
in the 60s for the first time
all year—was huge for both
woods and the tournament.
“we’ve arrived to a de-
gree,” said tournament
president duke butler, who
has introduced an array of
initiatives to elevate the
tournament. he instituted
a program for contestant
caddies who wear a frys.
com logoed shirt and hat to
earn $100 a day, and this is
after the tournament hosts
a thursday-night pig roast
for the world’s highest paid
bunker-rakers.
now what? another month off
Tiger Woods most certainly doesn’t look
at his T-30 finish at the Frys.com Open as
a crowning achievement. Not after saying
in a pre-tournament interview that the
only thing he would consider a success
was “getting a W.” Still, three consecu-
tive rounds in the 60s after nearly two
months off to rehab an Achilles injury
would normally give a slumping player
enough positive thoughts to want to build
on it. But a return to competition anytime
soon isn’t in the cards for Woods. He told
Golf Channel after Sunday’s round that
he won’t add any more Fall Series events
to his schedule, meaning we likely won’t
see him again until the Emirates Austra-
lian Open, Nov. 10-13, the week before
the Presidents Cup. With all due respect,
Woods needs to play. He can shoot 62 at
Medalist GC 10 more times before he trav-
els Down Under but until he does it in the
spotlight of a professional competition,
there will be doubts. And Woods, too, will
have them. Why not play the Children’s
Miracle Network Classic? Woods will have
his reasons. The resort courses at Disney
are not among his favorites, and Woods
would rather work on his game by hitting
300 balls on the range than by hitting 277
in a tournament. Perhaps most impor-
tantly, staying on the range keeps him out
of the media spotlight, always a consid-
eration for a player who wants to keep
things private. —John Antonini
ap photo/paul sakuma
cover // contents // 10 things // big read // pga tour // lpga tour // champions tour // european tour // equipment // tim rosaforte
