Woods will be in driver’s seat at PGA
HOYLAKE, England – Now let’s see if Tiger Woods can play Medinah without a driver.
Why mess with success? If he could bunt his way to victory in one major, certainly he can do it again. When the prospect was brought up to Woods’ swing coach, Hank Haney, he just laughed.
“Yeah, you’ll see his driver at Medinah,” Haney said. “It’ll be softer there.”
The spotlight now shifts to Medinah Country Club for the PGA Championship, which begins Aug. 17. Woods, who won the 1999 PGA Championship there, will go into the tournament with his swagger firmly reestablished after an impressive victory in the British Open.
Because the PGA traditionally places the winners of the season’s first three majors in the same group, Woods will play the first two rounds with Masters winner Phil Mickelson and U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy. Two days of Tiger and Phil in a major? The PGA might want to install lights and move it to prime time.
Talk about a study in contrasts. Mickelson won the Masters using two drivers, while Woods grabbed his driver only once during his British run. Unlike the U.S. Open, where he missed the cut and clearly wasn’t ready to play after the death of his father, Woods went to Royal Liverpool with a sharp focus and a clear plan. Instead of trying to overpower the course, he laid back, playing a control game with his irons. He executed perfectly.
But it will be back to power at Medinah. With the tree-packed layout stretching to a record 7,561 yards and fairways with actual grass on them – unlike the airport landing strips at Royal Liverpool – Woods will have to go full throttle again.
Woods’ ability to hit the driver will be scrutinized at Medinah – it’s currently regarded as the weakest part of his game. He’s hitting 58.3 percent of fairways to rank 157th on the PGA Tour. In 1999-2000, when he was running the table, Woods was at 71 percent.
Woods’ trip to Cog Hill might have been the turning point of his season. When he arrived at the Western Open, he was still dealing with the effects of missing the cut at Winged Foot, the first time he’d done so in a major as a professional.
Then Woods shot a shaky 72 in the first round. To eliminate the bad taste, he headed for the range with Haney and caddie Steve Williams for a 2 1/2-hour session that lasted until sundown.
Seeing Medinah again should give Woods even more confidence. The 1999 PGA Championship was his second major title. Woods will visit the course before the tournament to look at several of architect Rees Jones’ revisions. “He just needs one round to get an idea of what kind of shots and clubs he needs into the greens,” Haney said. “He can get it all in one round the way he does it. Certainly it’s not the only way.”
Haney was referring to Mickelson’s routine. Mickelson likes to analyze every blade of grass in extensive pre-tournament skull sessions. Dave Pelz, Mickelson’s short-game coach, said Mickelson probably would spend a couple of days at Medinah to get ready for the tournament.
Mickelson needs to regain his confidence. After his 18th-hole collapse at the U.S. Open, he tied for 65th in the Western and never was in contention in the British Open, tying for 16th.
Woods, with $4,263,563 in earnings, passed Mickelson for the top spot on the money list with his British victory. He also took the lead in the race for player of the year. Woods has three victories, including a major, and was third at the Masters. Mickelson’s two wins include the Masters, and he finished second at the U.S. Open.
The PGA is the last chance for each player to make a defining statement. Only 23 days to go.