Tiger and Stricks: Adorable!
K.J. Choi didn’t waste any time in the first round of the Chevron World Challenge, firing off five birdies in the first five holes — just before the Santa Ana winds let loose at Sherwood Country Club. Tiger Woods picked up where he left off in the Down Under, starting strong by rolling in four birdies in the first five, as well. Then, the conditions toughened and the comfortable breeze turned into swirling gusts up to 30mph, throwing Tiger off his game a bit.
“It’s one thing to have it blow, but you don’t know which way it’s coming from,” said Woods after posting a three-under 69. “Then you have intensity changes on top of that. So it’s really hard out there.
“You know, there’s a couple times, you know, Stricks (Steve Stricker) got fooled, I got fooled. This is a golf course in which — like most Nicklaus courses — you can’t bump the ball around the golf course. You have to draw the ball up into these greens. It would be one thing if we could run the ball on the green, we wouldn’t have to worry about this stuff, but that’s not the case.”
Meanwhile, Choi seemed to be the only one with a firm enough grasp to control the ball.
Said Tiger: “Anything under par is a good day today with the wind up. If the wind stayed down, you’re going to have to shoot probably 68 or below for it to be a good score…Guys behind us, like K.J. is playing an amazing round because he’s got most of it into the wind, and for him to play that well that early and keep it going is one hell of a round.”
Choi is used to playing in strong winds, dominating the 18-man field and firing an impressive six-under 66 to take a three-shot lead over Tiger and Stricker.
“I was used to playing in the windy conditions, not only playing in Melbourne, but also living in Dallas, where there’s 20- to 30-mile wind every other day,” Choi said. “I’m used to practicing in those conditions. I’ve become very comfortable in those windy conditions.”
Despite making a few mistakes, Tiger looked as sharp as ever, according to his playing partner, “Stricks,” and though K.J. was playing three groups behind, he saw enough to come to the same conclusion. Via the AP:
“It looks like he’s getting a lot of confidence back again,” Stricker said. “It looks like the Tiger of old, really, and it’s great to see. We need him out there playing, and playing well.”
“I think he is really 80, 90 percent back to his form again,” Choi said. I’m very happy about playing with him tomorrow. Tiger is a good friend. He’s got a very strong will. He’s got the right mental attitude right now, and I think it’s going to be a very fun day tomorrow.
“I watched him play a couple of holes today, and I was very impressed at the way he was swinging, at his rhythm, at the power he had,” Choi said. “It almost seemed like watching the old Tiger back in the day.”
Love K.J. — one of the truly good individuals out there. He wouldn’t say that about Tiger unless he actually believed it. We have three more days to see if the “old” Tiger’s form holds up.
(AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
Based on what I saw yesterday, Tiger’s swing looks great. It looks very much under control and he appears to have exceptional distance. I’ve also noticed a huge change in Tiger’s on-course demeanor. Since the Aussie event Tiger seems to be a little more accepting of his poor shots and I think that is a good thing. I’m not quite ready to say Tiger is back, but we are seeing a lot of positive signs.
Oh and I’m thrill to see the “Stinger” is back in the arsenal. Johnny will be happy too.
Woods played well in the wind – full credit for that.
However, he is not hitting the “stinger” – the confusion is the result of lazy TV commentators loosely using the term.
First, Nike recently made him a chunky looking cavity back 2 iron that looks a bit like one of those driving irons that were kind of popular 20 years ago for players who had difficulty with the driver.
Second, the old “stinger” that came off his old fashioned knife-like 2 iron would look like tracer fire , holding it’s line about 4 yards off the ground. His new cavity back 2 iron produces way more spin, causing more drift and a higher ball flight.
Woods clearly wants his opponents to belive the stinger is back. But it is not.
And why did Nike make him this special 2-iron cheater stick? His pop-up, divot gouging 3-wood on 16 yesterday is part of the answer.
Here’s a pic of his “game improvement” club from the locker room at the Chevron:
http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/548499-tigers-bag-at-the-chevron/
Ummm….judging by the his drive off 18 on Sunday which never got above 20 feet….I would say it back.