Tiger-Stevie Split: Nothing Lasts Forever

When the news broke 48 hours ago that Tiger Woods officially parted ways with caddie and close friend Steve Williams, the internet was abuzz with activity…. everyone has an opinion on what events may or may not have led to the divide between golf’s dynamic duo, but this much is certain: very few who follow the game ever imagined the day coming when Woods would no longer be walking the fairways with Williams by his side. Williams himself seemed shocked to learn that his services were no longer wanted, as he detailed his disappointment in an interview on Wednesday (below).

The 12-year partnership that began back in 1999 was the perfect match, or seemed to be. A successful dynasty awaited. Friendship happened. Marriage happened. Children happened. The loss of a father happened. Steve Williams became much more than just a looper for Tiger Woods – he became a close friend, if not a confidant. As Williams points out in his interview above – he was there with his friend through thick and thin, good times and sad times, good rounds and bad. He was the guy that maintained order inside the ropes, duties that included playing marshal to trigger-happy cameramen to barking at galleries to stop breathing while his player was trying to concentrate. To some he was seen as a villain, to others a modern-day Matt Dillon on the links. He was also very opinionated and unafraid to make enemies, as we learned a few years back that HE WASN’T IMPRESSED WITH PHIL MICKELSON. Steve Williams was a lot of things to a lot of people. But there was no denying that he was the right guy on Tiger’s bag, the guy who Tiger trusted more than anyone else.

But then came the scandal back in November of 2009.

For the past couple of years, Williams has seemed reluctant to talk much about how the scandal impacted their friendship, other than saying that he was just as shocked and disappointed to learn of the revelations as anyone else. That was about the extent of what he offered to the media. But within 48 hours of his firing, Williams opened up a little about how the scandal did impact their relationship, most notably in disclosing that right before his first tournament back last year that he told Woods that “he lost a lot of his respect and that he would have to earn it back.” Woods isn’t the type to be talked down to by anyone…. much less a caddie that he’s helped make a millionaire a few times over during the past dozen or so years. Would it be out of line to suggest that if Williams did indeed have that conversation with Woods – could that have been the beginning of the end? I think it’s a fair assumption.

And then we notice how much different their on-course interactions have been since then…. what used to be chatty, back-and-forth joking and laughter had pretty much been replaced by countless scenes of frustration and uncertainty with very little banter. They no longer appeared to be two friends embarking on destiny, but rather a boss and an employee trying to somehow get through their differences and challenges. No doubt – Williams was starting to feel the pinch financially… then when Woods admitted that his ongoing knee problem was going to impact his schedule and force him to take an indefinite leave of absence, Williams decided to do what most other tour caddies do in those instances – seek permission to find temporary work until his player was back in action. Granted – it was a surprise to see Williams anxious to work with another player, but it’s also worth noting that he too is highly competitive and enjoys winning…. Maybe spending the past 12 years with Tiger has rubbed off on Williams like that, the desire to compete and win.

But what gets lost in all of the changing scenery in the continuing saga of Tiger Woods is the changing scenery itself. He’s no longer the player most feared, nor is he the most sought-out athlete as far as the corporate sponsors are concerned. He’s on the verge of falling outside of the top 30 in the world rankings, his last win came two seasons ago and is currently ranked 20th in the World Golf Rankings. He’s not only up against father time as it relates to beating Jack Nicklaus’ career 18 major victories, but also as it relates to his health. It used to be a forgone conclusion that he would become the greatest golfer that ever lived, but currently it’s uncertain that he’ll ever win another tournament, period. Currently, Tiger is dead on pace to become the 2nd best player that ever lived, which is a milestone away from being considered the best-ever.

And not that his career has been anything other than impressive… who in their right mind could argue that Tiger hasn’t been the greatest player in this era of the game? But when you think about what might have been lost in the span of 2 years is absolutely mind boggling…. except now it just doesn’t appear to be an unprecedented career full of record-setting achievements lost. It now seems that he’s in the process of ridding himself of all emotional attachments that ever meant anything to him. Then again, maybe nothing outside of winning ever mattered.

Arnie’s Tournament at Bay Hill

For an official recap of Thursday’s action at Bay Hill, click HERE.

At the top of the leaderboard after Day 1 at Arnie’s Invitational is Spencer Levin, as the 26-yr-old continues his solid playing this season. Levin managed 6 birdies and nary a bogey on the day with a stellar round of 6-under 66, despite the difficult conditions Thursday. Rickie Fowler leaked some oil by carding bogeys on his final two holes of the day, but still managed 3-under 69. He shares the #2 spot with Hunter Mahan, who also posted 3-under 69 on Thursday.

Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson are the two notables in the 11-player logjam at 2-under, as you can check out the rest of the leaderboard HERE.

Did Arnie Tiger-Proof Bay Hill???

Tiger Woods was under par today, at one point anyway. Woods hit his approach on the opening hole from the right intermediate rough from 166 yards to 13 feet, and drained the putt for an opening birdie. But by the time he stood on the 4th tee box, he was back to level par thanks to a 3-putt from 47 feet on the 3rd green. Woods would go on to struggle miserably off the tee, both left and right, finding only 4 fairways total on the day. He somehow managed to find 12 greens despite that, but his putting wasn’t anything to write home about – needing 32 attempts with what has become a seriously balky flatstick. The end result after his opening round at Bay Hill, the venue that has delivered 6 of his 71 victories throughout his career, was a lackluster 1-over 73.

Other News and Notes

While Tiger’s struggles continue, it’s worth pointing out that he didn’t fare as badly as about 75 other guys. The wind and firm conditions skyrocketed the scoring on Thursday, as only 21 players in the field managed under-par rounds. Only 9 players managed rounds of level-par. Very few players were prepared for the tough conditions heading into this event, and those that managed respectable rounds were getting it done on the greens. The weather forecast for the remainder of the tournament is excellent, and we should see the scoring a tad better on Friday and Saturday with less wind being a factor. But Sunday could provide another challenge like the players faced in round 1, with winds expected to pick up considerably for the final round.

Notable Struggles:

Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Aaron Baddeley, +4.

Gary Woodland, Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas, +5

Webb Simpson, Robert Allenby, +7

Brandt Snedeker, Graeme McDowell, Jhonattan Vegas, Jeff Overton, +8

 

Getting to Know Nick Watney

Don’t confuse his quiet, laid-back demeanor with someone who isn’t grinding hard from Thursday to Sunday for a win. He’s not overly emotional, which certainly bodes well for a player at that level who meets just as much frustration as success some weeks. Patience is certainly something that he has plenty of.

Dustin Johnson’s epic bunker gaffe would eclipse a disappointing Sunday finish for Watney at Whistling Straits last August in the PGA Championship, where he went into the final round with a 3-shot lead. But Watney never looked more uncomfortable and unprepared to win a golf tournament than he did that day, as his final-round score of 81 would attest. Not only did his Sunday implosion cost him a shot at taking his place in major championship history – it also effectively took him out of the Ryder Cup conversation as a captain’s pick. Double whammy.

But to see the body of work that Watney has put together since that infamous Sunday back in August, one can’t help but be impressed with the way he has responded to adversity. In the Tour Championship at East Lake, he would finish T4. He would go on to finish T6 in his very next event – the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children tournament. As it relates to this season, Watney has already amassed 5 top-10’s, including his win last week at the WGC in Doral. It’s worth noting that he’s only made 5 starts this season. Dude is playing some serious golf. And he could very well be the “Matt Kuchar” of 2011.

His win last week at the WGC Cadillac Championship moved him up to 15th in the Official World Golf Rankings, but Watney states that he isn’t into the “who’s #1 in the OWGR this week” hoopla. “I feel like all I can do is try to keep improving, hopefully keep winning tournaments. The World Rankings are what they are. I mean, it’s cliché, it’s very cliché, but that’s not why I play. I play for feelings like this.”

Quiet, confident, yet humble. What’s not to like about Nick Watney?

DIY Golfer: Artificial Putting Green Installation 101

If you’ve ever wondered how an artificial backyard putting green is constructed, this is a pretty neat how-to video. Of course, for the size of the artificial putting green in the video, expect to spend upwards of $3000. But it’s a pretty neat step-by-step diagram of just how simple one of these things can be installed in your backyard. I’m guessing that once the area has been prepped sufficiently, a weekend would probably finish it off with a few golf buddies helping.

For different options and pricing, you can go to the Tour Links store HERE.

 

This Week’s Tiger Woods News

You just can’t escape the Tiger stories….

From Golf.Com’s latest segment of Truth and Rumors:

“I don’t know, man. I played for ten years when that guy dominated, so it’s tough to get a different mind-set on things. Tiger was the dominant player. He won 14 majors. Think about it, 14 majors, in such a short period of time. Who is ever going to do that again? Who knows? That is pretty dominating. So for us, myself, Phil, Vijay, Davis, Fred Couples, guys like that to have played under a guy who was that good, we took a beating, not only from him, but from you guys, too. It’s been a tough — it was a tough ten, 12 years for us. So to see kind of the new world out there, you know, with these young players coming through, Martin No. 1, Lee Westwood was No. 1 for a while. Lee has been around for a while, too, but the youngsters, they have got something going for them.” – Ernie Els, commenting on Tiger’s intimidation factor in the Tuesday press conference at this week’s WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral

It’s like that one bully at school who took your lunch money every day, the one kid who made you hate getting up every morning of your life and going to school… that guy could be a youth minister at a church today, but you still never forget how much he intimidated you when you were both kids – that fear never left. And that is the affect that Tiger Woods had on the now 40-somethings on tour today, guys who have had their lunch money taken so many times that no matter how poorly he plays, no matter how “human” he appears – they have become so conditioned to fear him over the past 12 years that they have been scarred for life. But at least Ernie is honest about it….

“Because I have a family. I’m divorced,” Woods replied solemnly. “If you’ve been divorced with kids, then you would understand.” – Tiger Woods, explaining why he doesn’t play more tournament golf in THIS Golf.Com article.

I’m not divorced, and I’m glad that I don’t understand. But it would seem to me that someone in his position in life, with all of the conveniences at his disposal, could manage more than just 8 days of tournament golf in nearly 3 months? But someone will say, “You’re forgetting his week over in Dubai.” Whoever points that out – thanks for bringing that up! So Woods has no problem hopping in a private jet and flying halfway across the globe to the Middle East, but can’t make the 2 hour trip to Palm Beach Gardens – where last week’s Honda Classic is being played? Tiger got quite the handsome appearance fee for going to Dubai, and would get absolutely nothing for teeing it up in the Honda Classic. There are some notable differences between “can’t” and “won’t” – about 3 million of them.

And lastly…. it appears that Tiger got more than enough “reps” at the Blue Monster during Wednesday’s practice round at Doral.

Image by Fred Vuich/SI

“The two men marched the fairways at the Blue Monster in lockstep, chatting constantly during the nine-hole session. Foley frequently unsheathed a camera to film Woods’s swings, many of which produced staggeringly wayward shots. If it’s true that you practice how you play, then it appears unlikely Woods will end his winless drought this week at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. On the 18th, Tiger’s final hole of the day, Woods yanked back-to-back tee shots into the lake — after the first he smiled, after the second he remained stone-faced — before pushing a third tee ball into the right rough. In a scene that played out numerous times throughout the morning, Foley then showed Woods some images from his camera, Tiger nodded several times, and the two men headed down the fairway together.”

I don’t know who is faring worse in this partnership – Foley or Woods. We can’t call it a draw, but rather 2 pull-hooks followed by a push-slice….

Was Ernie watching? How many more of these shots does Tiger have to produce to erase those dozen years of fear? Or better yet – to realize that he needs to play more tournament golf, maybe?

Hunter Haas’ Caddie Arrested

Hunter Haas will be needing the services of a new caddie, according to Alex Miceli over at GolfWeek in THIS ARTICLE.

According to the report, Hunter’s caddie – David Streza – was arrested after finishing up his caddie duties for Haas on Friday at the Honda Classic. Sources say that Streza’s arrest was due to violations of his probation that came about last year. Haas expressed his frustrations Saturday afternoon after his round.

“Its not easy switching up a caddie … let’s take every pro out here and just shuffle up all the caddies and see how they do – see how they deal with it. I’ve got to go on and do what I’m supposed to do. I’ve got to play golf, and I can’t worry about what’s going to come out of his problems.”

Despite the enormous distraction that will leave him searching for a new caddie, Haas played the tournament at level-par, with a respectable T-14th finish.  

Rory Sabbatini Closes Deal at Honda Classic

Photo by Getty Images

Y.E. Yang would give Rory Sabbatini a close chase Sunday at the Honda Classic, firing an impressive final round of 4-under 66 to stay within reach. But the pivotal hole for Sabbatini would come at the par4 16th, where he would stick his approach from 187 yards to within 16 feet of the hole for birdie, making the putt to get back to even par on the day. Yang would birdie the par5 18th to keep Sabbatini honest, but Rory would have no issue two-putting from 13 feet on the final hole to claim a 1-shot victory, earning his 6th PGA Tour win of his career. Sunday’s win opened two notable doors for Sabbatini – a berth into next week’s WGC event at Doral, and more importantly a trip to Augusta next month for the Masters tournament.

Along with Y.E. Yang giving chase to Sabbatini on Sunday was 44-yr-old tour veteran Jerry Kelly, who like Yang also began the final round 5 shots back. But despite birdieing the final two holes, Kelly would have to settle for a respectable 3-under round of 67, finishing alone in 3rd place.

For an official recap of Sunday at the Honda Classic, read more HERE at PGATOUR.COM.

Plumb-Bobbing Life: Proud to be a Golf Dad

Raising teenagers in this day and age has never been more stressful and challenging, and there’s never been a more urgent time to communicate with your offspring, even if it does occasionally require due diligence with fat, nubby fingers and a small cellphone texting keypad. But I’m fortunate that I get some road time with my daughter, who I chauffeur to indoor field-hockey practice several evenings each week. It gives us some quiet time to talk about things, important things. And it gives me time to listen. It also gives me a few opportunities to explain my take on a few things, as I attempt to somehow try to relate to the current life stresses of a modern-day teenager, to reassure her that things are never quite as bad as they might seem.

And I guess it’s an appropriate time to note that I most ALWAYS use my experiences in Golf as some sort of eye-opening analogy. Much to her dismay. She hates my golf stories.

As we got in the car Thursday afternoon, she was unusually quiet. And I guess that now’s another good time to note that her female hormonal system has officially kicked in, meaning that I now have two stark raving mad women that I have to tip-toe around two various weeks of the month. But this didn’t seem like a “that time of the month” quietness. She just seemed distant, as if she was in deep thought about something. After we’d been on the road for about 10 minutes, and after it dawned on me that she wasn’t about to start a conversation – I chimed in.

Me: So what’s the matter? Why are you so quiet this afternoon? Everything go okay at school today?

Her: Oh my God… what is this – 50 questions? Sheesh!

Me: (starting to think that maybe we have entered into that time of the month…) You don’t want to talk to me? Are you mad at me? (funny how my conversations with my daughter are now starting to resemble the conversations with my wife..)

Her: No, I’m not mad at you. I’ve just had a long day, one of those days where nothing seems to go right.

(I’ve learned the fine art of just keeping my mouth shut at this stage. Better to wait for her to initiate the discussion at this point than to get stabbed in the neck with a #2 pencil. This is a part of that “listening” part taking place that I talked about above, even if it means listening to complete silence. So I just start fiddling around with the radio, find the type of music that I know she absolutely loathes, and allow her to make the next move. And for the record – if it isn’t anything on the current top 40 of the pop charts – she hates it. But she hates 70’s music something fierce and I just happened to come across, oddly enough, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”)

“I’m on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can’t be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down”

It worked. Never even made it to the chorus line before she reached over and turned the radio off.

Her: You listen to the gayest music…. Okay, here’s what is bothering me: I have a bad feeling about making the upcoming competition team for field hockey.

Me: Why do you say that?

Her: I just don’t have a good feeling. Tryouts are next week and it’s suddenly like I’ve never played before.

(I’m now doing a google search in my brain to come up with some sort of golf-related story that might change her outlook on things…. and naturally I find one.)

Me: I know how you feel. I can relate to that every year as I approach the Club Championship.

Her: Noooo, please… not another golf story?

Me: Hear me out….. because it is important. What I’ve learned over the years playing golf is that you can’t play with fear. Take last season, for instance. I felt like my game was starting to come around at the right time – about three weeks before the tournament. Then I had a horrible practice session one afternoon, and that played out in my next three playing rounds. Those three scores I posted were some of the worst scores I shot all of last season. And it was only a week or so away from the first round of the tournament. So I started to panic a bit. And that’s really not a good place to be in golf with one of the biggest tournaments of the season just a few days away.

Her: So what did you do?

Me: I just changed my attitude. I’ve played golf long enough to know that worrying about how you’re going to play doesn’t help you play better, it actually makes it more difficult. You tighten up. You start focusing on what you shouldn’t be doing instead of what you should be doing. And above everything else – golf is supposed to be fun. It is a game afterall. But when you worry about where your next shot might go, instead of focusing on where you want your next shot TO go – your ball usually ends up in the very place that you didn’t want it to go. Crazy how that works sometimes….

Her: What you’re saying makes sense, but it’s not easy to just flip a switch and all of a sudden everything looks great again.

Me: You’re right – it’s not easy. In fact – it’s one of the most difficult things to do in golf. But you know – at some point you just realize that worrying about it doesn’t help. And after a while you figure out that as long as you do your best and have fun trying – you’ve done everything possible to play well and win.

Her: But you didn’t win, did you.

Me: No, I didn’t. But that doesn’t mean that I played badly and it doesn’t mean that I didn’t have fun because I didn’t win. Honey, you have to start looking at these tryouts as fun opportunities…. your big chance to show the coach what you’re made of. It’s okay to be nervous. Being nervous and being afraid are two different things. Being nervous just means you’re excited about something that is important to you. Being afraid means that you don’t want to do it. You’re not afraid, are you?

Her: No, I’m certainly not afraid. I guess I’m more nervous, like you said.

Me: Okay, now you’re starting to get the right attitude. Nervous is okay. It doesn’t mean you’re afraid, it means that this is important to you. And since this is important to you – do you think that worrying about performing badly is going to help you play better? Is it going to help you think more clearly, play more loosely, and allow you to show your skills?

Her: No, worrying about it won’t help.

Me: Well, just do what I did. I stopped focusing on winning or losing and started focusing on doing the things that I’ve always done better than the other players. I knew that winning wasn’t going to be easy, but I knew that I was going to give it 110 percent and have fun, win or lose. And you know what – I played very well. But unfortunately my second opponent played better than me in my second match and he beat me. I didn’t get upset with myself, because I played well and I gave him a good challenge all the way up to the end. And I had fun doing it. That guy that beat me – he ended up winning the whole thing – he was the Club Champion. So I just look back on that today and know that it was just his year to win. I can only control how I think and how I play. I couldn’t control how he played. I just came up on the short end to the best player at my club last season, that’s all.

Her: Yeah, maybe I just need to stop worrying about it and go out and have fun, look at it as an opportunity to play well and show the coach how much I want to be on the team with my effort.

Me: That’s what I’m talking about…. you can do this. Just have fun and be yourself.

Her: Now can I listen to the music I want to listen to? Your music sucks.

 

And just like that – everything was back to normal…..

Rory Sabbatini Enjoys 5-Shot Lead Heading into the Final Round at Honda Classic

PGATOUR.COM – Daily Wrap-up: Round 3, The Honda Classic.

Rory Sabbatini enjoys a 5 shot lead heading into the final round of the Honda Classic, after yet another great score of 4-under 66 on Saturday. Y.E. Yang posted  3-under 67 on Saturday to move into a tie for 2nd place, sharing the #2 spot with Jerry Kelly, who had a nice third round of 2-under 68. Sabbatini is at 9-under for the tournament, and Yang and Kelly are at 4-under.

The Champion Course has inflicted some severe punishment this week, and three bad holes can effectively erase a sizable lead. Throw in the iffy weather forecasted for Sunday – chance of rain with more wind – this tournament is far from over.

For a glance at the leaderboard to see exactly which players might factor into things on Sunday, click HERE. And for the official PGATOUR.COM recap, click the link at the top of this article.

TGC will be starting early coverage at 1:00 p.m. EST, with NBC taking over the coverage at 3:00 p.m.

Mike Weir Loses Tour Exempt Status Following Missed Cut at Honda Classic

Photo Courtesy of REUTERS

For Mike Weir, the start to the 2011 season hasn’t been what he had hoped it would be. And he needed it to be a good one.

Back near the end of last summer, a torn ligament in his right elbow forced Weir to shut down his season in late August. More bad news would come over the winter, as his good friend and caddie Brennan Little informed him that he was leaving to loop for fellow tour player Sean O’Hair.

Weir applied for a medical exemption, which the tour granted, with the stipulation that he would have to make enough money through his first 5 events this season to retroactively account for the amount of money he needed to win in 2010 to keep his tour card for 2011. Unfortunately things didn’t pan out like he needed them to. Weir basically needed a top-5 finish this week at the Honda Classic, but he had two incredibly frustrating career-worst days of golf and miserably failed to make it into the weekend. Just like that – Mike Weir no longer has a PGA Tour card.

Weir maintains a personal blog, and added an entry following his second missed cut of the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Although he was hopeful that his injury wouldn’t continue to be an issue and he would start getting his game back into form, you could sense that the possibility of him losing his card was becoming more real.

“As far as my five-tournament medical exemption goes, I’m not really worried about that. Of course I’m hoping to take care of things either this week or in my next event, but if it doesn’t happen I’ll deal with it then.  Either way, I know I will still play this year beyond those five events, so I’m not really worried about that. Right now, I’m just trying to get back into the routine. I know it will take time but I’m also confident I’ll be back playing great golf soon.”

So where does Mike Weir go from here? He’s got a couple of options. For starters, he can do what other non-exempt players on tour in that 126-150 2010 money list range are doing – sending out letters to various sponsors of upcoming events asking for sponsor’s exemptions. The sponsors of those events that he’s played in and supported in the past might grant him an invitation, although it’s worth noting that he’s competing against quite a few other non-exempt players for a select few open spots available. The other option is he can do what Chris DiMarco opted to do after he failed to earn his tour card for 2011 – use a one-time Career Earnings exemption.

Weir, who will turn 41 this upcoming May, last won back in 2007 at the Fry’s Electronics Open.