Getty
Well, so much for Nike Golf’s latest “No Cup is Safe” commercial with the World’s #1 and #2.
If you’re in the 1 percent that hasn’t seen it in the gazillion times it’s been aired already since Wednesday, it shows Woods and McIlroy deeply engaged in 1upsmanship on a practice range, as both players take dead aim at targets inside of office buildings, penthouse suites, restaurants, and even a wedding reception.
Judging by their first two rounds this week at the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi, it’s apparent that someone at Team Nike failed to send Tiger and Rory the memo that the commercial shoot was over, they were now playing actual golf.
Unless it’s the sequel to Wednesday’s commercial, of course (which would obviously be “No Cut is Safe”).
Thank God for Russell Henley, who by the way probably didn’t ink a $250 million deal with Phil Knight less than a week earlier, only to kick the company’s marquee putter to the curb and go back to dear old Scotty a few days later. Russell is following up his win last week in Hawaii by continuing his solid play this week at the Humana Challenge out in California.
Unlike Nike’s Dynamic Duo, Henley will continue to give Nike some exposure this weekend, since he not only made the cut, but finds himself only a few shots off the lead.
But it goes without saying that it wasn’t the start of 2013 that Woods and McIlroy envisioned. To say that Woods’ first two rounds this season resembled a mixed bag would be a slap in the face of mixed bags. There were no fewer than 5 instances in which a rules official had to invoke the infield fly rule after Woody reverted to the post-fire hydrant lumberjack off the tee, and of course we can’t forget the “I cold topped it” shot on his 10th hole Thursday that went all of 150 yards. It’s not that he’s never done that before, but rather the fact that the last time he did that was probably 30+ years ago. When his approach shots were dead at the flag, which wasn’t that often, they were either a club too short or two clubs long. His putting wasn’t great, but then again – it’s tough to get anything going when you’re faced with 10 footers to save par on every other hole. But despite his incredibly sloppy play, Woods did manage to put together a nice run of four birdies on the back nine Friday to get into the weekend.
Or so he and everyone else thought. But that turned out to not be the case. On the 5th hole Tiger assumed that he would be granted free relief from an embedded ball, and everyone knows what happens when one assumes. The long story can be found HERE, but the short of it is that his brainfart cost him a 2-stroke penalty, effectively giving him the weekend off. It seems that the folks in Qatar who denied Woods his customary $3 million appearance fee for next week’s tournament are smarter than we give them credit.
And Rory, bless his heart, it seemed at times as though he was being punished for signing a deal with some sort of golf equipment devil. Tiger was struggling right along with him, but at least Woodrow didn’t bring in a non-Nike sub off the bench, which is more than we can say for the curly headed kid in love with a hot tennis chick at the moment. Rory, for all intents and purposes, was simply not prepared to play golf this week, with whatever equipment.
So three weeks into the PGA Tour season, what does all of this mean, you ask?
Nothing really. Tiger’s no longer the dominant player who used to nonchalantly waltz into the weekend with his C game, as we’ve seen over the past three seasons. Rory might be in for a longer struggle with the equipment change, but it’s really hard to base anything much on the first two rounds of the season. If March rolls around and he’s still trying to figure out which end of the Nike club to hold, then there could be some due panic going on. But for now, no need to jump to conclusions.
I’ll be back Monday to offer my take on what transpired over the weekend.
Until then, may your life be filled with sunshine and warmth.
Have a safe and enjoyable weekend, my friends.
Scott's Golf Blog 