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Annika Sorenstam: Recalling The Round That Changed Everything

Ron Sirak — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

When Annika Sorenstam teed it up on the PGA Tour 10 years ago, the golfer and the game were changed forever.

Hey Sergio, Get Over It

Ron Sirak — Wed, 15 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The recent spat between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods says a lot about the two players' respective careers.

Tension and intrigue follow Woods and Garcia on rain-shortened Saturday

Sun, 12 May 2013 01:07:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The suspended third round of the Players was a glimpse at what could have been. Just imagine if Sergio Garcia had held up his end of the bargain and become a real rival for Tiger Woods.

We could have had nearly 15 years of the kind of tension, intrigue and compelling golf we had Saturday. And hopefully, we will get more of it on Sunday. Man, this could have been a "Big Break" episode.

Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods on the 11th tee during the third round three of The Players Championship. Photo: Richard Heathcote

The fact that Woods and Garcia are not the best of friends was clear even to those unfamiliar with the strained relationship between the two that goes back to at least 2000, when Tiger thought Sergio over-celebrated after defeating him in a made-for-TV exhibition match.

And that was part of the reason the atmosphere on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was electric Saturday, virtually vibrating with buzz from a crowd so large it was announced the night before there were no more parking passes available. Officials said 45,281 were on hand for the third round.

To say there was no chit-chat during their round would be like saying the Hatfields and the McCoys rarely played Words With Friends together. There

hadn't been this much tension at the home course of the PGA Tour since, well Wednesday, when Vijay Singh sued the tour.

While frosty from the beginning, the chemistry between Woods and Garcia took a quick turn toward absolute zero on No. 2 when Garcia hit his second shot just as the crowd erupted in cheers as Woods pulled out a wood to go for the green on the par 5 from off the pine straw.

Sergio missed wide right, looked in Woods' direction in disgust, made bogey on the very birdie-able hole and complained about it later.

"It was my shot to hit," Garcia said on NBC during the weather delay that halted play with the two on the seventh hole. "He moved all the crowd that he needed to move, and I waited for that. I want to say that he didn't see that I was ready. But you do have a feel when the other guy is going to hit. Right as I was on top of the backswing . . . everybody started screaming, so that didn't help very much. It was unfortunate."

After the round was halted a second time, this for darkness, with Woods and Garcia playing the 15th hole, Tiger was asked if he had heard about Sergio's comments and for his version of events.

Related: How Tiger's swing has changed

"Well, the marshals, they told me he already hit, so I pulled a club and was getting ready to play my shot, and then I hear his comments afterwards and [it's] not real surprising that he's complaining about something," Woods said. Asked if they discussed the matter, Woods said: "We didn't do a lot of talking."

And when Garcia heard Woods' reaction he said: "It's fine. At least I'm true to myself."

Holy Snedekers, Bat Man, can't wait until the boys to get back at it at 7:10 a.m. for the completion of round three. What a weird day it was.

On No. 4, Woods asked for -- and received -- a free drop in the rough near a fairway bunker -- perhaps from a sprinkler head -- conjuring up memories of Drop-Gate at the Masters last month. Quick, anyone, get me David Eger's phone number.

On No. 7, after Garcia put his second shot on the green and Woods was preparing to play, the horn sounded at 4:09, driving the players from the course because of dangerous weather conditions.

When played resumed at 5:57, Sergio didn't wait for Tiger to get to the seventh green before he putted, most likely playing his stroke out of turn, which in

stroke play is a courtesy and not a rule. There was little courtesy in this twosome. When they walked off the eighth tee, the two were 20 yards apart.

On No. 8 green, when it was time for Woods to putt, Garcia stood an appropriate distance away, but straight across from Woods where he was likely in Tiger's vision before he looked down to focus on the ball. Seve Ballesteros would have been proud -- and then uncrossed his legs.

When play was finally halted for the day by darkness after the horn sounded at 7:47, David Lingmerth had the lead at 12 under par through 17 holes with Woods and Garcia both at 10 under, tied for second with Henrik Stenson, who had finished 16 holes.

This is the match-up we thought we'd get a lot back in 1999 when the 19-year-old El Nino gave all Tiger could handle on Medinah in the PGA Championship. Who thought then that 14 year later, Garcia would yet to have won a major championship?

For the most part, it has been the putter that has hampered Garcia, who has used the long putter and now employs the modified claw, although some would say the five inches between his ears needs to be anchored better.

Remember, this is the guy who said after the third round of last year's Masters that he didn't have what it takes to win a major, then said that wasn't what he meant.

I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm rooting for the scoreboard to end the third round exactly as it was when play was stopped Saturday night, which would put Woods and Garcia in the same group again for the final round. The rivalry never developed, but at least we can enjoy what might have been for one more day. Bring it on, Tiger and El Nino! Talk to us!

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With a familiar foe standing in his way, Woods keeps rolling at the Players

Fri, 10 May 2013 19:32:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- When Tiger Woods hits a full shot that satisfies him, he gives the club a rhythmic twirl, grabbing it after it has finished its revolution in the firm, sure way a conductor handles the baton while directing a world-class orchestra.

There have been a lot of those twirls the first two days at the Players as Woods, whose stroke average in 55 previous rounds on The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass was 71.44, has opened with a pair of 67s.

In fact, I'm not sure of the last time I've seen as many shots by Woods punctuated with a club twirl as I did in Friday's second round. You probably have to go back to 2008, the last year in which he won a major championship -- the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

So far, Woods has been a maestro in control who has the look of someone determined to finish what he has started. His reaction to his closing birdie on Friday -- a 20-footer on No. 9 -- had the fire of old.

"I'm pleased with every facet of [my game]," Woods said. "I feel like I'm driving it well, hitting it well with my irons, my distance control is good, short game is really solid, and I'm making my share of putts."

Just like that, Tiger is looking more like the guy who won here in 2001 than the player who has had only one top-10 finish in the Players since.

And just like that, we go into the weekend with the possibility of a Woods showdown with one of his annoyances in life -- Sergio Garcia.

The actor formerly known as El Nino also has only one victory here -- 2008 -- and a bushel of frustration with a 71.83 scoring average in 48 rounds before this year.

But Sergio backed up his 68 in the opening round with a 65 on Friday in which he ran off five consecutive birdies at one point and six in seven holes. He's one stroke ahead of Woods at 11 under par going into the weekend.

"I hit the ball very well, hit a lot of good iron shots and gave myself a lot of good birdie opportunities," Garcia said following the second round. "I wasn't able to convert many on the front nine, which was 10 to 18 for me. But I got going on the back nine, and I got on a great run there."

Sergio fell off Tiger's Christmas card list at the made-for-TV "Battle at Bighorn" in 2000, the year after he worked his way into the hearts of many golf fans when he hopped, skipped and jumped his way down the 16th fairway at Medinah in the final round of the PGA Championship.

Tiger came into Bighorn exhausted and under the weather. He had just won the PGA Championship in a grueling playoff with Bob May and then closed out the NEC Championship at Firestone in near darkness.

After a flight from Ohio to California, Woods arrived at Bighorn the next day with a touch of the flu and was lethargic in his round, clearly both sick and tired.

Garcia, meanwhile, got more animated as the round went on and when he closed out Woods on the last hole acted as if he had just won a major championship.

If there is such a thing as X-rated body language, that's what Tiger was speaking as Sergio cavorted. Lost on Garcia in the celebration, apparently, was the fact Woods had just won four of the five previous majors.

Likely not lost on Woods is the fact that the major championship scorecard between he and Garcia now stands at 14-0 in Tiger's favor.

"I think that I was headed into the right direction coming into this week," Woods said at Sawgrass. "I played well at Augusta [where he finished T-4]. My last two weeks of practice have been really solid and I came in here with some confidence."

A confident Tiger Woods is a scary opponent, especially if he has experienced disrespectful behavior -- perceived or real -- by the guy he is playing.

I have seen almost no athlete in my lifetime -- maybe Michael Jordan -- who can find motivation in as many places as Woods. The guess here is that if he is paired with Garcia in the final group on Sunday the adrenaline meter will be off the charts.

Garcia has a way of annoying his opponents with gestures, outbursts and antics. Woods sends a quiet but firm message with his cub twirls -- sort of a silent "take that." Even more than a Woods-Rory McIlroy showdown, this is the final group we should be rooting for.

I have a feeling we are going to see a lot more club twirls by Woods this weekend at TPC Sawgrass. And I have a feeling Tiger would love to have Garcia on the receiving end.

But deep down, we all know it doesn't matter. Woods plays tournament golf for only one reason -- to win. He could care less who he beats. But a Tiger-Sergio showdown sure would be fun -- even if this isn't a major, or the Battle of Bighorn. Darn, even Vijay Singh might tune in to that one.

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Woods puts Players struggles behind him, opens with 67

Thu, 09 May 2013 23:44:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Talk about 24 hours of surprises. Not only does Vijay Singh sue the PGA Tour on the eve of its flagship tournament, but a day later both Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods prove they can actually play the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy, out in the morning wave Thursday at the Players, broke par for the first time in seven career rounds here, posting a six-under 66 that left him three strokes behind first-round leader Roberto Castro.

Tiger Woods' only misstep on Thursday at the Players was a bogey on the 18th hole. Photo by Getty Images

Then Woods played one of the best rounds of the afternoon wave, shooting a 67 that fell one hole short of his first bogey-free round at Sawgrass in his 56th crack at the course as he gave back a stroke on No. 18.

Woods, who has not really been in contention at the Players since winning here in 2001, now has a chance to go into the weekend with something to play for. McIlroy, meanwhile, has a chance to go into the weekend -- period. He had missed the cut in his three previous tries.

"I felt like I had to go out and shoot something in the 60s, the guys were going low," Woods, who was nine behind Castro before he even teed off, said after posting his best score here since the final round in 2007. "I made some good saves. I need to strike the ball a little better tomorrow. I missed in the right places today."

Only twice before has Woods had a lower score on the Stadium Course, shooting 66 in the third round in both 2000, when he finished second to Hal Sutton, and in 2001, when he was victorious.

There was a lot of the Old Tiger in this round. He made birdies on all four of the par-5s and made a couple of testy par-saving putts, the kind that keep the momentum of a round alive.

The positive trends that have led to three victories so far this year were in evidence again in the first round.

His misses off the tee are much better than they have been in years.
The controlled "stinger" drive with a fairway wood or a long iron is as beautifully-reliable as it once was.
His distance control with his irons -- especially from inside 150 yards -- is much better than it has been during the three-year process of learning the Sean Foley swing.
And, oh yeah, he is No. 1 in strokes gained/putting again. The putter has always been the great eraser for Tiger's mistakes and when he has the confidence that he can make up-and-downs to save par, he can really attack pins.

The only real item of concern was his very un-Tiger-like closing bogey. That perpetuates the uneasy feeling down deep that this version of Tiger, while still clearly the best player in the world, is missing something the Old Tiger had.

After driving to the fairway with a 5-wood, he missed the green long from 192 yards with an 8-iron, tried to finesse a delicate chip up the slope and left it short, then chipped again to tap-in distance for a bogey.

"It's a little bit of grainy down there," said Woods, who hates making bogeys ever, but was especially annoyed at this one, as evidenced by the detail of his answer to what happened on that chip at No. 18.

"It was too grainy to putt, because it gets up on top and switches grains," he said. "It goes back down grain. Sometimes I've used a 4â¿¿iron in there, but I thought that might chatter too much. I thought if my 60 has got too much bounce, so I went with a 56 to try to shallow it out at the bottom and it didn't work out. The grain snagged it and I hit it short."

Woods began the day in rather lackluster fashion, playing the first eight holes one-under par. Then he erupted in a burst reminiscent of the old days, making four birdies in a row beginning on No. 9.

And while the "miracle" up-and-downs of the old days may not be there are reliably often as they once were, they still lurk and he can still hit shots that take your breath away.

This is his best opening-round score in the 15 times he has played the Players -- by three strokes. That falls into the category of auspicious beginnings. Now let's see what comes next. A win here would be his biggest, by far, in a comeback that began last year at Bay Hill.

And, coming on a course where he has had such little success, it could give him the momentum -- and confidence, he needs to end his 0-for-five-year winless streak in the majors in the U.S. Open at Merion next month.

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Vijay Singh plays on after suing the PGA Tour

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:14:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- On the day after he sued the PGA Tour for allegedly damaging his reputation in the Great Deer Antler Spray Saga, Vijay Singh returned to competition with little interest from fans and even less from his fellow players.

Singh warmed up for Thursday's first round of the Players on the secluded back end of the practice range at TPC Sawgrass. When he walked from the range to the practice green, it was to sparse applause and not even a nod from other pros.

As he putted, Singh spoke only to his caddie, his coach, or on his cell phone. No player made the trek across the green to bring him greetings. His playing partners Robert Garrigus and J.J. Henry said hello on the first tee and not much more.

Several fans shouted Singh's name as he walked to the first tee, where he was greeted by a middle-aged man sitting in the second row wearing a deer-antler hat. The only real heckling came on No. 3 where a man yelled, "Stay away from the spray."

The Singh lawsuit seems to be resonating very little with fans -- although, truth be told, golf fans are not of the heckling ilk. And in a lawsuit pitting a multimillionaire player against his even richer employer, few seem to be finding a side to root for.

The clearer reaction seems to be from players who, for now at least, are sort of making Singh feel like the island green at No. 17 -- not totally cut off from land, but connected only by the narrowest strip. If no man is an island, this one seems to be at least an isthmus.

While none of the players were talking on the record, the underlying sentiment was that suing the PGA Tour, where 99 players won at least $1 million last year, was a bad idea.

The 50-year-old Singh, meanwhile, was making even less of an impact as a player, playing the front nine in 39 strokes and finishing with a 74 on a day when Roberto Castro tied the course record at 63.

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If McIlroy has learned how to play the Stadium Course, then watch out

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:54:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- This much we know about Rory McIlroy: When he has his A-game everyone else in the field becomes a B-list celebrity. Winning the 2011 U.S. Open and last year's PGA Championship by eight strokes each proves that.

What the 24-year-old lad from Northern Ireland has yet to demonstrate is whether or not he has the resolve to win when he is not playing his best. And the way he's started this Players, we may not find out this week.

McIlroy watches his second shot on the 14th hole during the first round of The Players Championship. Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

McIlroy appears to be on his game. He also seems to have figured out how to play the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, so he's got that going for him.

"I don't hit any drivers on the front nine," McIlroy said after opening with a bogey-free six-under-par 66. "I mean, I hit driver on 11 and 16 on the back nine, and one more, 14, so I only hit three drivers around this place. Now I see why I don't. . . . There is no point hitting driver off either (par 5) for me, because I'm still going to reach the green with a 3â¿¿wood off the tee, if I want to."

Remarkably, it took Rory McIlroy seven trips around the Stadium Course before he was able to break par. Now, he pretty much just needs not to lose a sleeve of golf balls in Friday's second round to make it to the weekend for the first time in four tries.

Before posting his 66 on Thursday in what may become the Vijay Singh Invitational if the 50-year-old Fijian wins his lawsuit against the PGA Tour, McIlroy's scores at Sawgrass resembled the summertime highs in San Diego -- 74, 77, 73, 72, 72 and 76.

His ball-striking was so precise on this day -- especially his iron play -- that the length of his six made birdie putts combined barely added up to one reasonable putt: 29 feet total as he turned in 31, playing the back nine first.

That was followed by a cruise-control 35 on the front side, finishing off his best career round here by six strokes in the tour's flagship event.

"It's just these [Pete Dye-designed] courses and this especially is just about getting your ball in play," McIlroy said. "Once you do that, you can . . . the way I feel like I'm hitting my irons, I can take advantage of that."

There is an axiom about the Stadium Course that long hitters don't fare well here. That's mostly true, except when a bomber is hitting a lot of fairways. Rory seems to have found a middle ground -- forget about the driver. While he missed a few fairways, he never missed badly and his iron play had the kind of precision Dye had in mind when he designed this course more than 30 years ago.

McIlroy, who came into the year as the No. 1 player in the world but started the season slowly and lost the top spot to Tiger Woods when Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, appears to be reclaiming his form.

So far, his best effort of the year was a second-place finish at the Valero Texas Open when he closed with a 66 only to be bested by two strokes when Martin Laird closed with a 63.

The year started miserably for him when he missed the cut in Abu Dhabi, was knocked out in the first round of the Accenture Match Play and when walked of the course at the Honda Classic while in the process of shooting a million.

"I'm definitely a lot more relaxed coming in here this year," McIlroy says about flying somewhat under a radar screen jammed with Tiger and the Vijay lawsuit. " I guess in a way whatever I do this week is what I felt coming in, I'll do better than I ever have before, because I've played well and I am playing well. I feel like I've got the game to contend. I came in here with not much pressure, and just wanted to go out and play well, and that's what I've done so far."

There have been just enough hiccups in McIlroy's career to give you pause -- five lackluster major championship performances after he won the 2011 U.S. Open and three consecutive years with one nine in the 40s at the Masters -- but the obvious talent makes you think the hiccups will be cured.

And then there is this: On a week when a World Golf Hall of Fame member who has won $67.5 million on the PGA Tour and likely has more than $20 million coming in his deferred income plan sues the tour, the apparent niceness of McIlroy shines even brighter.

There is something about McIlroy that makes you feel as if the kid who cuts your grass on Saturday afternoon went out and won the U.S. Open or the PGA Championship on Sunday.

And for the first time at the Players, it appears as if Rory will survive to see Sunday. The young man appears to have reclaimed his A-game from the pawnshop and he's learned that out-thinking a golf course can be as dominating as overpowering it. It will be fun to watch him put that skill and knowledge to use the rest of the week.

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Vijay Singh suing PGA Tour over proposed doping suspension

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:25:00 GMT

By Ron Sirak

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Almost exactly a decade ago, Vijay Singh stepped into a public relations hornet's nest when he said he hoped Annika Sorenstam would miss the cut at the 2003 Bank of America Colonial on the PGA Tour.

Singh still doesn't talk to the writer who published that quote. That cone of silence may expand now -- on all sides. Suing the PGA Tour on the eve of its flagship event is not a way to win friends and influence people.

Lawyers for Singh said Wednesday they are suing the PGA Tour to "reclaim his reputation and hold the PGA TOUR responsible for its unwarranted effort to suspend Singh for his use of deer antler spray." The tour, not surprisingly, has no comment at this time.

By suing the tour, Singh is not only biting that hand that has fed him very well -- he has $67.5 million in career earnings, third all-time behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- he is sort of suing the other players who benefit from the tour and its events.

And there are many among those players who were not happy when the World Anti-Doping Agency rescinded its ban on deer antler spray, leading to the tour dropping its 90-day suspension of Singh, which was under appeal at the time.

Singh freely admitted to using deer antler spray in a magazine interview while it was on the PGA Tour's banned substance list. That was changed when WADA concluded there was not enough human growth hormone in the spray to make it a performance-enhancing drug.

"I am proud of my achievements, my work ethic, and the way I live my life," Singh says in a news release by Peter R. Ginsberg Law, LLC, in New York City. "The PGA TOUR not only treated me unfairly, but displayed a lack of professionalism that should concern every professional golfer and fan of the game."

The timing of the suit is sure to annoy many players almost as much as it irks officials in PGA Tour headquarters here. That's about as in-your-face as it gets and is somewhat reminiscent of when three LPGA executives quit on the eve of the 2006 LPGA Championship, saying they had lost confidence in then commissioner Caroline Bivens.

At the time the suit was filed, Singh was still listed as having a 2 p.m. tee time in Thursday's first round of The Players. It's a pretty safe guess that the media room is rooting for a 64 by Vijay in the first round - and a trip to the interview room.

One of the risks in filing the suit is that the move likely means that anything in his file at the PGA Tour headquarters - and Singh has been controversial enough that a file certainly exists - is now fair game for public release, as it was in the case of John Daly when he sued a newspaper for libel.

The PGA Tour has a policy of not making public any fines or suspensions levied against players. The extent of the disciplinary actions against Daly were not known until he sued.

If there has ever been any actions against Singh, or even complaints, those would now become public knowledge. In fact, his 90-day suspension for deer antler spray was only made public when it was detailed in the suit Singh filed.

It's also probably safe to assume the PGA Tour will have crack investigators thoroughly probe every aspect of Singh's medical history.

The other risk for Singh is the elephant in the room throughout his career - a suspension for allegedly cheating, an allegation he denies, in the 1980s, would resurface larger than ever.

The accusation was that Singh changed a scorecard in the 1985 Indonesian Open in order to make a cut. The South East Asia Golf Federation suspended him indefinitely and he was not a member of any tour until resurfacing on the European Tour in 1989.

The only way this suit makes sense -- and the greatest risk to the PGA Tour is going to court rather than reaching a negotiated settlement -- is if Singh knows something. Have there been other drug penalties -- either performance enhancing or recreational -- the tour has issued to prominent players that Singh knows about but the public does not? If that is the case, then is the motive purely vindictiveness?

According to the the lawsuit filed Wednesday in New York:

"Singh seeks damages for the PGA TOUR's reckless administration and implementation of its Anti-Doping Program. After exposing Singh, one of the PGA TOUR's most respected and hardest working golfers, to public humiliation and ridicule for months, and forcing Singh to perform the type of scientific analyses and review that the PGA TOUR was responsible for performing, the PGA TOUR finally admitted that the grounds on which it sought to impose discipline were specious and unsupportable."

As for what Vijay want, the suit asks for:

"WHEREFORE, Singh respectfully requests that this Court enter judgment in Singh's favor, granting the following relief: 1. damages in an amount to be determined at trial; 2. punitive damages and attorney's fees; 3. and such other relief as the Court finds just and proper."

Singh withdrew last week at the Wells Fargo Championship pretty much as soon as the PGA Tour announced it was dropping its case against him in light of the WADA reversal on deer antler spray.

He last played at the RBC Heritage, where he missed the cut, and according to the lawsuit the tour had held more than $99,000 of his winnings in escrow pending his appeal of the suspension.

Related: Who will win the Players?

When Singh made his inflammatory comments about Sorenstam, he went out and won the EDS Byron Nelson Championship that week and then withdrew from Colonial, thus escaping further media scrutiny. It's not clear he has an easy road out this time, other than fully extending his cone of silence.

It could very well be that the next words we hear from Singh on this matter will be in court, where the questions are certain to be far more reaching than he ever gets in the interview room - and where the answers will have far greater consequences.

A matter that seemed as if it would quietly be forgotten now has the potential to not only drag on in a very public manner but also could drift into areas Singh has for decades avoided.

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The Players: Singular Sensation

Ron Sirak — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

A variety of factors hasn't turned the Players into a major, but it remains one of golf's unique events.

A Sense Of Place

Ron Sirak — Tue, 07 May 2013 04:00:00 GMT

Why would Dottie Pepper walk away from a big job covering televised golf? It has to do with the small town where she grew up -- and her desire to give back to the game.