{"id":348594,"date":"2011-03-29T23:08:20","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T23:08:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/29\/tiger-woods-still-gets-everyones-attention-ap\/"},"modified":"2011-03-29T23:08:20","modified_gmt":"2011-03-29T23:08:20","slug":"tiger-woods-still-gets-everyones-attention-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/29\/tiger-woods-still-gets-everyones-attention-ap\/","title":{"rendered":"Tiger Woods still gets everyone’s attention (AP)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP)\u2014So many people surrounded the first tee that it was
\nhard to see who was playing. The gallery stretched down the entire length of the
\n461-yard opening hole and wrapped around the back of the green on a sun-baked
\nSunday at Bay Hill.<\/p>\n

Now on the tee, Tiger Woods<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was in a tie for 29th. He was 10 shots out of the lead, no serious threat
\nto win.<\/p>\n

About four hours later, the final group of Martin Laird<\/a> and Spencer Levin<\/a>
\napproached the fifth green with under 100 fans tagging along.<\/p>\n

This is nothing new.<\/p>\n

A few weeks earlier at Doral, the PGA Tour decided to group players based on
\ntheir world ranking. Someone estimated the gallery at 85 people for the \u201cBig
\nThree\u201d of Martin Kaymer<\/a>, Lee Westwood<\/a> and Luke Donald<\/a>. On the other side of the
\ncourse, there were too many fans to count in the group of players ranked 4-5-6\u2014
\nGraeme McDowell<\/a>, Woods and Phil Mickelson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the FedEx Cup playoffs last year at Ridgewood, thousands of fans
\ncrammed behind the ropes on both sides of the fairway at Ridgewood Country Club
\nto watch Woods, who was in 20th place and going nowhere.<\/p>\n

One reporter was thinking too hard as he searched for the meaning of it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get it \u2026 but I don\u2019t get it,\u201d he said as his eyes scanned the size of
\nthe crowd. \u201cThe guy is in 20th place. Why wouldn\u2019t you go watch someone who is
\nactually playing well?\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer: They were there to see Babe Ruth.<\/p>\n

Even at his worst\u2014and there are plenty of numbers and statistics to back
\nthat up\u2014Woods remains the most compelling figure in golf. It was like that at
\nBay Hill. It will be that way next week at the Masters, even as Mickelson tries
\nto join him with four green jackets, or Kaymer goes after a second straight
\nmajor, or Westwood tries to regain the No. 1 ranking, this time without having
\nto explain why.<\/p>\n

Never mind that Woods is meandering through mediocrity at the moment.<\/p>\n

Wednesday will mark 500 days since his last victory at the Australian
\nMasters, his last tournament before the car crash outside his Florida home and
\nthe revelations of affairs that followed and broke up his marriage.<\/p>\n

He has played 20 tournaments since, not including the Ryder Cup. In his only
\nchance to win, at the Chevron World Challenge, Woods coughed up a four-shot lead
\nin the final round to McDowell, the first time in his career that Woods was
\nleading by more than three shots going into the last day and didn\u2019t win.<\/p>\n

Woods has earned $265,465 in five tournaments this year. He earned more in
\nhis first five tournaments as a 20-year-old pro.<\/p>\n

In 16 starts on the PGA Tour since he returned last year, Woods has three
\ntop 10s.<\/p>\n

One longtime British golf journalist might have summed it up best last year
\nat The Players Championship. He wandered onto the TPC Sawgrass to watch Woods
\nfor a couple of holes, then walked back in. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So why the special treatment?<\/p>\n

Because Woods is approaching an important anniversary.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the one-year anniversary of his return to competition at the
\nMasters, where he played off memory and somehow tied for fourth at Augusta
\nNational with a performance that raised false hopes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the 10-year anniversary of his greatest feat.<\/p>\n

Woods won the Masters in 2001 to become the only player to hold all four
\nmajor championships at the same time. It took him 294 days to achieve something
\nthat might never be done again. There was no one close to him in the game back
\nthen.<\/p>\n

There remains no one close to him in interest level now.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why he draws the biggest crowds. That\u2019s why television can\u2019t resist
\nshowing him.<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Sean O\u2019Hair<\/a> was in rough on the 14th hole of the North
\nCourse at Torrey Pines, and Woods was on the adjacent hole. Spotting a reporter,
\nO\u2019Hair playfully asked why he was always watching Woods. Then came a question to
\nO\u2019Hair: \u201cIf you had this job, who would you be watching on Thursday?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTiger,\u201d O\u2019Hair said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

Woods was more interesting to watch when he was winning 40 percent of his
\ntournaments, when he looked like a special player. Now he is interesting in a
\nnostalgic sense. They remember how he once performed and wonder if he ever will
\nplay that way again.<\/p>\n

Will he reach, let alone surpass, the benchmark of 18 professional majors
\nwon by Jack Nicklaus?<\/p>\n

Can he be golf\u2019s best player again?<\/p>\n

Not even Woods knows the answer.<\/p>\n

All anyone has at the moment are memories of how he once played, and they
\nare strong enough to hold the interest.<\/p>\n

In times of parity\u2014which is what Woods\u2019 demise has brought\u2014come
\nreminders of how hard it is to win, and how often Woods won. Consider this:
\nBefore turning 30, Woods already had 46 wins on the PGA Tour and 10 majors.<\/p>\n

Until someone else comes along\u2014probably not in Woods\u2019 lifetime\u2014everyone
\nwill want to know about Woods, good or bad. Some watch because they are eager to
\nsee him dominate again. Some watch because they delight in his failure. Others
\nare just curious.<\/p>\n

But they\u2019re watching.<\/p>\n

At the 1999 Masters, when Woods was rebuilding his swing and was no longer
\nNo. 1 in the world, he was in the middle of the pack and headed for Amen Corner
\non Saturday with a dozen or so media close behind. A radio technician looked at
\nthe approaching mass with disdain, shook his head and said, \u201cWhy are you guys
\nfollowing Tiger? He\u2019s not even the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when someone posed a question.<\/p>\n

If Nicklaus had called Augusta National that day, he probably would have
\nasked who was leading the tournament.<\/p>\n

What would his next question be?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Read More:
\nTiger Woods still gets everyone’s attention (AP)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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