Year ranks as one of his best
In '05, Woods made it clear who's No. 1
When Tiger Woods next tees it up on the PGA Tour, early in 2006, he will be playing in his 200th event. With 46 victories thus far, his winning percentage is an unmatched .231, but for those who expect even better, there is good news. Woods next month will turn 30, closer to when pro golfers supposedly reach their prime.
''I'm excited about that. I hope that's the case," said Woods.
He had just finished a distant second to Bart Bryant's stunning performance in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, but there was a wide smile on his face -- and why not? Woods had completed another sterling campaign, adding six wins and two majors to his career totals, and reasserting himself as the most dominant player in the game. It was a far cry from a year ago, when he left East Lake having won just once in 2004 and fallen to No. 2 in the world rankings, 1.59 points behind Vijay Singh.
Those were the days when some folks suggested his career was in shambles because of his fascination with new swing coach Hank Haney's philosophy, or his marriage, or his nagging injuries. As he has always done, going as far back as that time on ''The Mike Douglas Show," Woods let his performance silence the critics. Majorless since the summer of 2002, he dominated them in 2005 and was only a few shots away from a Grand Slam.
His best season still has to be 2000, when he won three majors and nine times in all. The year before that, when he won eight times and one major, is considered his next-best effort, but 2005 surely has to be a close third, if for no other reason than the manner in which he moved back to the top of the world order -- with a ferocity and fearlessness that made you want to watch.
Committed to the swing changes he has honed under Haney, Woods pulls out his driver more frequently than ever, and while he'll miss fairways by a wide margin, he has regained the intimidation factor because when he is in play -- and that's at a higher rate than some would lead you to believe -- he leaves opponents shaking their heads. You would, too, if you saw his drives run out to 370 yards, like they did a number of times at East Lake.
This season was Woods's ninth full campaign on Tour and the résumé only got thicker. He'll be Player of the Year for a seventh time, he earned his sixth Vardon Trophy for lowest scoring average (68.66), and he returned to the top of the money list for the sixth time, halting Singh's two-year grip. The world rankings? Woods went from 1.59 points behind to 7.30 ahead, a rather stunning reversal in a 52-week window, the type of which only he could author.
Certainly, the critics are still there, though with muffled voices. They suggest Woods is obsessed with power and not the complete player he was in 2000, that he's too concerned with mechanics and his swing requires more maintenance than it did under Butch Harmon. Who's to say? Writing about swing changes becomes far too technical and there are only a handful of golf writers -- yours truly not among them -- who have a clue as to what these players and teachers are talking about.
Ultimately, the game is about scoring and winning. So you'll have to excuse me for not seeing where Woods has these problems people keep writing about.
Qualified success
The PGA Tour's Qualifying Tournament resumed yesterday with three second-stage sites. At Panama City, Fla., former University of Rhode Island standout Michael Sims is competing, along with a host of golfers who have New England ties, among them Pat Bates, John Elliott, Bobby Gage, Ken Green, and P.H. Horgan. Rhode Islander Brad Adamonis and Kyle Gallo of Connecticut are involved in the competition in Stonebridge, Texas, while Michael Harris, a Michigan native who played well on the New England-based Cleveland Golf Tour this past summer, is in Deerwood, Texas . . . Mention ''Q School" and even grizzled PGA Tour veterans cringe. ''None of them are any good," said David Toms, when asked for his memories of the grueling challenge. ''I had a wreck my first year out of college. I shot 158 my last two days and missed by two strokes. Next time, I missed. Finally on my third try I got my card, but then I had to go back because I lost my card. So, I'm 1 for 4." Then there are those who can't relate to what Q School is all about. Like Adam Scott, the brilliant, 25-year-old Aussie who went to college in the United States, left after a short stint at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and rose to prominence via the European PGA Tour. ''I never felt like I was going to go to Q School," said Scott. ''The way I started playing when I turned pro in Europe, I knew I was good enough to secure a card. As soon as I got that card in Europe, I said I'll never go to Q School." That's not arrogance, it's just a confidence that golfers must have, yet Scott, like Toms, appreciates what sort of pressure is on the line in Deerwood and Stonebridge and Panama City. ''Guys still going at it, late in their 30s and their 40s? It's what we know how to do," said Scott. ''That's all we know how to do. I would, too. I have friends who battle it out all year on the minitours, trying to get themselves ready for Q School. It's a hard road and I have a lot of respect for those guys." Toms was asked if he ever thought of quitting. ''No, not really," he said. ''I don't think you ever know when to hang 'em up. It's a game that knocks you down pretty quickly, but you can get it back real quick."Senior circuit
It was a third-round 78 that did in Peter Teravainen as the Duxbury native came up short in his return to competitive golf in the US last week, his 292 total three shots too high in a Champions Tour qualifier in Calimesa, Calif. Having taken his talent to Europe and Japan many years ago, Teravainen was hoping to return for some senior golf, but he'll instead turn his attention to the European Senior PGA Tour next year. At Calimesa, a couple of NEPGA standouts finished in a tie for fifth to make it through, though they did it in different manners. Paul Parajeckas (70-73-71-69) was steady, Rick Karbowski (78-68-72-65) more explosive. On the other side of the country, the news was also good for a pair of NEPGA stalwarts as Mike San Filippo (64-67-69-68) breezed to medalist honors and Kirk Hanefeld (68-68-70-71) was tied for fifth in Lakeland, Fla. Hanefeld, the director of golf at The International in Bolton who'll turn 50 next spring, will thus advance to the final stage in his first try, joined by veterans Parajeckas, Karbowski, and Hanefeld . . . Maybe he feels confident that he'll get the Tampa Bay Devil Rays managing job, or perhaps reality set in, but in either case, Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt was only around for half the action at a qualifying site in Orlando, Fla. He shot 73-75, then failed to hand in a card, so he was out of contention. Former major league pitcher Rick Rhoden made it through on the number, while medalist honors went to Joe Ozaki of Japan. Hard to believe, but an established world-class player such as Eduardo Romero was forced to go to the first stage, but he breezed through in Orlando, finishing just a few strokes behind Ozaki . . . The Champions Tour final stage, all six rounds of it, will be held Nov. 16-21 in Calimesa . . . Need proof there's no shortage of players who think they have what it takes to play professionally? Consider the qualifying tournament going on in Lakeland, Fla., for the Futures Tour. That's the women's equivalent of the Nationwide Tour, and organizers needed three courses to accommodate more than 310 golfers from as far as Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, New Zealand, and Australia. Lynn Valentine, who has been a member of the Worcester Country Club staff, shot 68 to share the first-round lead, and Briana Vega of Andover opened with a 73 to sit joint 35th. The field includes Brittany Lang, the junior standout who left Duke after one year, but obviously there was a bigger crowd than there needed to be, because 10 players failed to make the 18-hole cut because their scores were so high, three players didn't break 100, and one competitor shot -- are you ready? -- 125.Money player
Dana Quigley announced he'd donate his entire $500,000 annuity for finishing second in the season-long Schwab Cup race to a variety of charities. Just a few years ago, his fellow New Englander and good friend Allen Doyle donated his entire $1 million annuity to charity, so Quigley isn't trumpeting his actions in the least. ''I still say Allen Doyle's donation is the greatest act of generosity in professional sports I've ever seen," said Quigley. ''He really inspired me to do the same." . . . Hours after he finished his work at the Tour Championship, Woods boarded his jet to fly around the world for theIn the clubhouse
Fairway news: Dennis Quaid is reportedly the best celebrity golfer in Hollywood.Clubhouse view: Which means what?
Fairway news: Jean Van de Velde said he's upset that women can try to qualify for the British Open, but men can't try to qualify for the Women's British Open. As a form of protest, he said he wants to try to play in the Women's British Open next summer.
Clubhouse view: But before he pursues it further, he'd like to know if there's water on the 18th hole.
Humble beginning
Receiving the Payne Stewart Award during the Tour Championship, Brad Faxon related a story from what he calls his first day in golf, back when he was 12 at Rhode Island CC. Having waited all day to get a bag, Faxon never got to caddie, so late in the afternoon he shagged balls for head pro Freddie Bruno. Faxon's efforts were rewarded with $1.25, but he couldn't resist the soda and candy machines on his way out. ''When I got home, my mother asked me how things had gone and I said, 'Great, I have 75 cents.' Things have gone a little better since then," said Faxon . . . As for his right knee, which was operated on nearly eight weeks ago, Faxon reports great progress. Asked when he'd be back in competition, Faxon laughed. ''Doctor [Thomas] Gill said the timetable was 4-6 months," said Faxon. ''He's closer to six; I'm closer to four." . . . How did Perry tune up for the Tour Championship? By working the pro shop at his public golf course in Franklin, Ky., Country Creek. That's right, he was the guy taking the $32 greens fees and handing out the keys to the golf carts. ''I would say 95 percent of the people [know me], but once in a while some of them don't have a clue. It's hilarious. I love it. They'll come in and say, 'How's Kenny Perry doing?' I'm looking straight at them, saying, 'He's doing OK.' " On a more serious note, if you're looking for a highlight to Perry's season, don't look at his two wins (Bay Hill, Colonial), his more than $3.5 million earned, or his participation in the Presidents Cup. That's because the two holes he played with a 25-year-old man named Eric blows everything away. Stricken with cystic fibrosis, the man's dream was to meet and play golf with Perry, so out to a private course in Bowling Green, Ky., went the two Kentuckians. ''Whatever he wanted to do, we did," said Perry. ''We were going to do whatever he wanted. It was one of the biggest honors of my life."
