And then heads to the Airport!!!
After 254 days away, Tiger Woods returned to competitive golf Wednesday in the Arizona dessert.
On Thursday, after a 4&2 loss to South African Tim Clark, he shortly left for the airport and a flight home to Orlando and the kids.
Shock I hear you cry!!! A loss in the 2nd round… And who is this Tim Clark?
Well to those of you who don’t really know Clark, he is South African, via North Carolina State, where he had a very successful amateur career.
Only being 5.7” and 160lbs Clark, is one of the shorter hitters on tour and carries 4 fairway woods.
(NOTE - To all of you out there who may have been made fun of for having lots of hybrids and woods… You can now say it worked for the Tiger Slayer)
Not yet a winner on the PGA Tour, Clark has amassed quite a ridiculous amount of $10million career earnings… Not bad for not winning eh?
So he was always going to be more of a match than Woods first round opponent Brendan Jones. And it most certainly turned out that way on Thursday at the Accenture…
After a mixed bag on the front 9; Woods and Clark were A/S after 9 holes, and made the turn in a very competitive match… However the putts Tiger normally holes were not going in and 3 holes later, Tiger was 3 down with 6 to play… And in trouble!
On the par 4,14th, Woods went bunker-bunker and found himself 58 feet short of the green with Clark safely on the putting surface in 2.
Now Woods, had said that all he could practice for months was short game, and the next shot definitely proved that practice makes perfect, as his 56deg sand-wedge lofted the ball out of the sand, stopped quietly before the hole and toppled in for an unlikely birdie 3.
Clarke made 4, and the match was back on down….4 to play!
What happened next, you could purely put down to rust…
On the drivable par 4 15th. Woods unleashed a 130mph driver swing, as hard as he could, but as he came down through the ball, the club got stuck on the inside, leaving the face open, and creating the block! Tiger and Phil’s common mistake that can cause so many problems…
The ball sailed 30 yards right of the green, hit the cart path, bounced another 25 yards and eventually landed Out of Bounds.
After walking down to his ball some 320yards away, Tiger had to turn around, driver in hand, and make his way back to the tee.
A lonely walk back to the tee, followed by a 3rd shot, sent perfectly to the green, you could tell from Woods body language that his comeback on Clark, had just run its course.
When Clark 2-putted for a par, and Tiger missed his par putt, Clark was 3 up… 3 to play and 95% home and dry.
A conceded birdie 2 on the next hole and Tiger’s comeback was derailed on the 2nd day, losing 4&2 to Tim Clark.
No real signs of tiredness, no signs of a limp… just rust! Not even the ‘Great One’ can take 8 months off and comeback competitively sharp.
And fair play to Clark, who didn’t lie down and let Tiger just walk all over him; and shot a 6-under par round for 16 holes, and thoroughly deserved the W.
Weekend without Woods…
So the final 16 continue and with 8 matches today, the remaining golfers battle it out to capture the 2009 Match Play title. How the television ratings will be affected, now Woods isn’t around for the week, will be a sure fire sign of how much the game needs Woods back.
No doubt the ratings for Thursday and Friday’s coverage may be higher than the weekend’s Semi’s and finals.
But that is a decrement to the man himself, he brings viewers, he fuels interest, he drives the media market, he basically… Excites Golf!
Big as or bigger…
Bobby Jones won the "Grand Slam". Arnold Palmer took the game to the masses, Nicklaus made the game look easy, Trevino brought a swagger and a grit to the game. Norman was exciting, Ballesteros was charismatic and all the others Faldo, Price, Langer, Couples, Love, have all won, become heroes and succeeded.
But never has the game needed their true star player more than now.
The economy all over the world is at its lowest, the golf ratings are at their lowest, and the number of golf courses and new player’s world wide is on a steady downhill slide.
Never has Tiger himself admitted he is nothing more than a Professional Athlete with a passion for helping children study and work, with his foundations and learning centres.
However, the time may have come when the 33 year old Southern Californian Boy’s return to the mainstream, may even be bigger than…………… GOLF itself!
DJ - 02/27/09
