THE BUZZ
Even when Tiger Woods isn’t the story, he remains in the conversation at a major — at least as part of the sideshow.
Woods, who had back surgery last month and won’t tee it up Thursday, and who likely will be at least questionable for the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in June if not also the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool in July, has been sitting on 14 major victories since the 2008 U.S. Open. He’s chasing the record of 18 Grand Slam victories held by Jack Nicklaus.
Nicklaus said Tuesday on the “Mike & Mike” ESPN radio show: “I feel very bad for Tiger. He’s really worked towards my record. I still think he’ll break my record.
“As long as he is physically able to do it. … He’s 38 years old, and he’s probably got another 10 years at least of being able to compete. That’s 40 more majors to win five of them. It shouldn’t be too difficult.
“But then again, I’ve always said he’s just gotta do it. It’s gonna be difficult, but if I said anything different I think I would be a jerk. So I think I better say he will do that … and I actually believe that.”
BY THE NUMBERS
On the Rivalscup.net website, where “tradition never graduates,” a running tally is kept of winnings on the PGA Tour by university. Rivals Georgia and Georgia Tech are dominating this year through the Shell Houston Open:
Rank; School; Winnings
1; Georgia; $11,645,985
2; Georgia Tech; $5,538,709
3; UNLV; $4,408,094
4; Baylor; $3,991,071
5; Oklahoma State; $3,928,195
6; Florida; $3,608,788
7; Arizona State; $3,445,066
8; Coastal Carolina; $3,346,150
9; Wake Forest; $3,155,129
10; GRU-Augusta; $3,030,336
GROUP TALK
As for tee times Thursday, even without Woods, there are several of interest:
- Stewart Cink of Duluth, exempt for majors only through this year, based on his 2009 Open Championship, needs to find his game. He's first off at 7:45 a.m. in a twosome.
- Defending champion Adam Scott goes off at 10:41 a.m.
- Three-time Masters champion Phil Mickelson is in the next-to-last group, at 1:48 p.m.
- Harris English and Russell Henley, who as teammates were All-Americans at Georgia, are in the final group at 1:59 p.m. "Nice!" English said when notified of his pairing underneath the big oak next to the clubhouse. "Russell and I have obviously played a lot of golf together. We're great friends. … I'm sure it will be a lot of fun."
HE SAID IT
“This one, unlike the other three (majors), is not about attrition. … This one gives us heroes, not survivors. This golf course encourages bold play, it rewards bold play. And that combined with the beauty of this place and the way it’s presented, makes almost everything that happens here throughout the week unforgettable.” — Brandel Chamblee, Golf Channel analyst
IF YOU GO
Forecast for Wednesday: Partly cloudy, high of 72, low around 50 with a 20 percent chance of rain.
Forecast for tournament days: Sunny with zero percent chance of rain. Highs gradually grow from 75 on Thursday to 80 on Saturday. High of 81 on Sunday with some clouds.
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