A question for all of you Golf Fans

[BOSSHOG]

The Zurich Classic will be played in New Orleans this weekend and once again Tiger Woods will be in absentia. Try as I might I've yet to discover why he chooses not to grace the city with his presence. Any of you Golf Guys and Gals have inside info into this pressing situation?

[Forkboy]

1. My guess is resting for the Masters two weeks down the line.

I can't remember if he normally shows at the Shell Open, which is the week before the Masters. But that would be my guess.

Or maybe he hates gumbo. :shrug:

[hughee99]

2. IIRC,

He's said before that he likes to take a couple of weeks off to tune up for the Masters. I don't believe he's ever been in the field for the Shell, but if he has, it must have been early in his career.

[BOSSHOG]

3. Okay

surely that would be mental preparation. He is a young man in good health. Surely one does not need two weeks of rest before entering a golf tournament. And what does "tune up" relative to golf mean?

[hughee99]

4. If there's a particular part of his game he wants to work on

like chipping or putting, for example, he'll be able to practice just that (or mostly that) over a few weeks with his coach rather than playing a tournament. It's not just the Masters he does this for, but he routinely skips a tournament or two before most of the majors to do this (as do many other pros). Given his success in those tournaments, whatever he does seems to be pretty effective.

[northzax]

5. tune up, for tiger

means about 8 hours a day of practice. Because he always plays to win (and that isn't all that common in golf) it is mentally exhausting. Imagine what it must be like to be tiger, knowing that anything less than perfection will drive you nuts, and lead to hours of commentary. Plus, it's not like he needs the cash. There are what, 35 tournaments a year maybe? And he plays maybe 15? He cares about winning big tournaments, (ok, to be fair, he can make a tournament big, but still) why play a fairly Podunk tournament and tire himself out two weeks before a major, when he could be at home with his wife and kid and making Amex, Nike and buick happy with a couple of meet and greets?

Heck, it's not like his caddie needs the money either, the guy could qualify for the tour championship based on taking ten percent of tiger's purses.

[Auggie]

6. I think he skips it because he can.

He doesn't need the money.

Winning majors would be more important if he wants to cement his position as the GREATEST player in history (and do it in record time).

Why risk injury? Or any mental baggage from a bad tournament? And he has more time to practice for those tricky greens.

[GOPisEvil]

7. He plays about the minimum number of tournaments per year.

Why? Because he doesn't need to play to build up money to keep his tour card. He can stay at home, be comfortable, practice, and tend to other things in his life. Other guys have to grind. Tiger doesn't.

[underpants]

13. He's got a wife and a kid now

did I mention his wife :wow:

Seriously he plays the minimum for the PGA and he seems to have not only each week planned out but each shot predetermined. Still though he is just like SOOOO lucky :sarcasm:

[Dabinci]

8. Tiger Woods

Sorry, that's my answer to all golf-related questions. It's all I know. :-)

[Awsi Dooger]

9. That tournament doesn't have the gravitas

Nor the proper place in the scheduling. Nor a sponsor tie in with one of Tiger's companies, like Buick.

New Orleans needs a break in the slotting. I think it's that simple. Doral got it a few years ago when they finally moved it away from the horrid schedule of one week after the match play. That situation had produced pathetic fields, and the tour felt Doral deserved better after 40+ years holding the tournament on the same course, with generally very favorable reviews of the resort. Plus, Doral was designated as a WGC (World Golf Championship) event so that further boosted the field.

Tiger lives in Florida so those tournaments are natural for him. He always takes at least one week off prior to a major so you don't want the space prior to Augusta. This week is actually far preferable to two weeks post-Masters, where Zurich was last year. The field is much improved with plenty of the foreign players, and non-Masters exempt players like Davis Love taking a stab at winning their way in.

The tour does rotate slots to make sure tournaments aren't screwed every year, but as others have pointed out, Tiger can pick and choose and he normally plays only 15-17 tournaments a year. Four will be majors, also the Players Championship, the match play and other WGC events, and now the FedEx Cup playoffs. That's about 11 or 12 right there, which leaves maybe 5 spots for so-called normal tournaments. Not good odds.

Tiger has already started skipping tournaments he used to play regularly. He missed Pebble Beach this year, and also the LA Open, which he has never won. There's buzz that Tiger is systematically avoiding courses where he hasn't fared well, like Riviera (LA Open), or ones that don't suit his eye, basically meaning he's not comfortable off the tee on many holes.

I attended Doral on Thursday and Friday last week. Tiger's gallery is so massive and unruly, with high percentage of newbie unsophisticated golf fans, that I only followed him for about 4 or 5 holes each day. It's incredible how the fans will bolt to the next hole as soon as Tiger's fate is known on each hole. He misses a birdie putt and they clear out, no concern regarding the other players in his group.

I ended up skipping from group to group, some of which had virtually no gallery. That allows listening to interaction with the caddies, etc. and I have many anecdotes that I might share if anyone's interested.

Mickelson was my preferred guy to watch. You had maybe 1/3 Tiger's gallery so there was plenty of room to maneuver and breathe. And it's so damn true he's Phil the Thrill, in either direction. The low controlled punch shots he can hit are amazing. The most unbelievable shot I saw all week was an intentionally cut low driver he hit into a cross wind on 18 on Friday. That's the toughest hole on the course, and one of the most difficult holes on tour. It requires a 290 yard carry to clear the water which jags into the fairway on the left. For a lefty to intentionally carve a low cut driver with the flight path angling toward the water was remarkable. He pulled it off perfectly. The wind was howling at that point, the only day the wind was up to normal Doral standards.

Meanwhile, he missed a 4 foot birdie putt after a great punch approach shot. That was Phil all day. On one hole, #5, I turned to whisper something to another spectator and heard a gasp. Phil missed an 18 inch par putt. I had turned my head because it was inconceivable that putt could be missed. He had power lipped out another short par putt two holes earlier.

[Awsi Dooger]

10. I forgot the mention the coolest experience at Doral

Tiger whizzed a drive over my head. Now that was awesome. I made sure to be there for it on Friday, after watching a Golf Channel replay on Thursday night.

#16 is a par 4, about 375 yards. But that's the standard route of fairway then dogleg left. It's maybe 40 yards shorter as the crow flies, but no one ever tried that shot before. There are tall trees along the left side. I've stood there and it looks impossible. Maybe 30 years ago I saw Jim Dent try to cut the dogleg severely with the old persimmon and balata, but not straight to the flag, which Tiger originated at Doral in 2005, putting it smack on the green.

Anyway, as soon as Tiger's group cleared #15 green I headed to the prime spot, at front left of the tee box on #16. They line the spectators in the traditional fashion, along the tee box. But Tiger drives it at a severe leftward angle, literally over the head of spectators lining the tee box only 20 yards away. That's where I wanted to be. LOL. I'll take my chances on Tiger Woods getting it airborne.

Unlike the previous day when fans were allowed to stand per normal, Tiger and his caddie asked the spectators in that small area to get down. Everyone around me was lying down. I got to my knees and faced smack at him. The whoosh off the clubhead was phenomenal. You could see the ball so clearly from that angle, coming straight at you but like a jet on takeoff. Everyone around me burst into some type of reaction as soon as it went past.

But there's no way they can allow that to continue. I'm sure next year the gallery ropes will be altered on that tee.

Camillo Villegas tried the same thing later on Friday, playing with Mickelson. In some respects it was even better, because we were allowed to remain standing. Phil aimed in the same direction but he pulled it to the right from the outset so it wasn't directly over our heads, inspiring some boos. He ended up in the right rough and made bogey.

[trumad]

11. I faced a similar situation at Disney with a Tiger shot.

Except it was a 3 wood coming out of some light rough. I was standing about 50 yards upstream and he hit it over our heads. The sound of the ball pealing through the blue sky was one of the neatest sounds I've ever heard. Kind of like a missile.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. The Sound The Ball Makes. . .

. . .when a world class power hitter smacks one is unlike what the rest of us hear on the golf course. The velocity and the perfect spin rate makes for a completely unique sound.
The Professor

[northzax]

14. plus his own tournament, remember

at Congressional. So it's really only 4 pr 5.

what's the only non-major, non-WGC, not closed field event Tiger has never missed? Bay Hill.

so he has 17 tournaments on his schedule this year:

Majors:
Masters
US Open
British Open
PGA
Players (ok, it's a baby major)

WGC:
WGC: Bridgestone
WGC: Accenture
WGC: CA

Regulars:
Buick (sponsor)
Arnold Palmer (never skip Arnie's place)
Wachovia (defending champion, week before Players)
AT&T National (hosted by Tiger)


FedEx Cup Playoffs:

either:
two of the threee: Barclay's, Deutschbank, BMW
The Tour Championship.

oh, and Ryder Cup.

and the Dubai Desert Classic (mad money)

There's your 17. you have to play enter 15 offical tournaments to keep your tour card, he's only got 16 on the schedule (Dubai, of course, doesn't count)

but then you can look at it from the other side. Tiger has played 4 official events this year (Buick, Bay Hill, Accenture and CA) and has $3.6 million in the bank and 14,775 FedEx Cup Points. Last year he had 30,000 points, and only 5 players total recieved more than 14,000. yes, he could quit now and be seeded 6th, based on last year's rankings. it's March. oh, and the $3.6 would put him tenth on last year's money list. it's March. insane.

[Kingofalldems]

15. I see Stewart (loose impediment) Cink is playing

Love to root against him.