Tiger Woods is back at the Tour Championship for the first time since 2013. Much excitement greets him. But even he will tell you that this is not same Tiger Woods who has passed this way in the past.
This Woods sounds like any other middle-aged guy dealing with the encroachments of age and aches. A very humanized Tiger Woods – granted that process was sped up by spinal fusion surgery.
For as impressive as his comeback has been at times, don’t be fooled. “I get reminded every day when I wake up in the morning that this is not what it used to be,” he said Wednesday in his pre-tournament press conference. “But it’s a hell of a lot better than it’s been the last few years.”
“There are certain shots I still think about (his back),” he said. “More than anything, I just feel it. I’ll never be as flexible as I used to be. I can’t. It (the spine) is not moving. And so, there are things that I’m limited by.”
It is still a bit jarring whenever you hear Woods talk about the things he can’t do anymore.
The D.J. mystery: Dustin Johnson will be playing in his ninth Tour Championship this week. East Lake should be a place that he can push around. And, yet, he has never finished this tournament higher than fifth. How could that possibly be?
“I like the golf course,” he said. “I’ve played well. But obviously I haven’t won it. Yeah, it’s a little surprising – I just haven’t ever put four rounds together here.”
It comes down, he said, to putting the ball in play off the tee, because even he can’t conduct a truly successful series of rescues from this Bermuda rough. And he says he’s feeling pretty good about that part of his game right now. So, he’ll continue to hold high hopes.
“It’s something that I really want to win – I want to be the FedEx Cup champion. I think it’s a big milestone,” he said.
Spieth off the hook: So certain was Jordan Spieth that he'd make his sixth straight Tour Championship appearance that he built it into his 2018 schedule.
Whoops. After finishing just out of the top 30 in FedEx Cup points – 31st to be exact – Spieth was shut out of East Lake. And as a result, he found himself in violation of a PGA Tour policy requiring players to either appear in 25 events or, failing that, play one event they haven’t in the previous four years. Including next week’s Ryder Cup, Spieth fell one short of his 25.
While the PGA Tour deems this a major violation – which can mean a minimum fine of $20,000 and at least a three-tournament suspension – its competition chief Andy Pazder only said Tuesday that the two parties have “come to a resolution” over the matter.
The specifics of the resolution weren’t made public, but would seem to involve Spieth adding to his schedule in 2018-19. Said Pazder, “You will see it next season. I think it will be good for the tour, for fans and for golf in general.”
Also running afoul of the rule this year was Ian Poulter, who will finish his season with 21 events.
Bad memories of a win: In golf, aren't they supposed to just count how many, not how?
Your defending Tour Championship winner wonders the same thing. For Xander Schauffele’s winning stroke in 2017 was a nervous little three-foot birdie putt that desperately tried to avoid the hole, doing a 360 around the cup before dropping. Seems he has taken a bit of grief for this, as if golf also awarded style points.
“Everyone likes to show me over and over again how I almost missed it,” Schauffele said. “If I think of this tournament, unfortunately I think of that.”
Nevertheless, the winner’s share of $1.75 million (plus the additional $2 million FedEx Cup bonus) still cleared into his account. So, Schauffele laughs last.
Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, sir, but it's good everywhere else: The Supreme Court clearing the way for states to legalize sports betting will, in the words of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, "make a huge impact on fan engagement for golf, perhaps more so than any other sport."
Speaking this week at East Lake Golf Club primarily to introduce next year’s changes to the FedEx Cup format, Monahan also ventured into the topic very familiar to anyone who plays golf: Gambling.
Getting the bet down on the first tee, after all, is the traditional way to start any round. Now for the sports bettor, a golf tournament provides a wager-rich environment, the commish figures. A lot of players and a whole bunch of numbers (the Tour’s Shotlink system can supply almost instant figures on each shot) equals multiple opportunities for action.
Betcha Johnson sticks this one closer to the pin than Justin Thomas.
“In other stick-and-ball sports, there’s only one ball that’s in play,” Monahan said. “In our sport, when you’ve got 60 players are here, it’s hard to track it all. We have the data to do so. We have the stars to do so. I want to stress we haven’t made any decisions, we’re just starting to get into it. We see that as the opportunity.”
