“He’s going to miss the second consecutive cut,” the shrill came through my car stereo. “Woods needs to fire his swing coach, Hank Haney,” came another talking air head.
So I hope that those same “experts” would come back on Monday after he won the Buick Open the day before, shooting 20-under par and start the mea culpa festival.
Sadly, I should have known better.
“There was no competition at the Buick Open,” one said. “It was like a Nationwide Tour event.”
One ESPN pundit who is extra-specially ignorant, said there was no one in the top 100 in the field. He’s also the same person that intimated that Woods was faking his injury at the U.S. Open last year. Allow me to write what he and others should have said.
Yes, the field was not one of the stronger ones the PGA Tour sees during the year, but Jim Furyk was there and he is No. 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Justin Leonard (No. 32) and Rory Sabbatini (No. 38) were also in the field.
When Woods shot his opening round 71 it was an under-par round, but to hear others describe it you would have thought he shot an 80.
He was eight shots behind first-round leader Steve Lowrey, who shot an opening round 63. Lowrey by the way, never saw 60s again, shooting three rounds in the 70s and finished tied for 63rd.
Woods said it best himself after his “horrible” first round where he said it was one of his worst putting days as a professional.
“I gotta go low,” Woods said reporters. “The guys are going to continue to go low. It’s going to be 20-plus under to win the tournament.”
Well what did Nostradamus Woods finish at? Uh, 20-under and a three-shot lead.
