QUESTIONS: The two best tennis players in the world, the Williams sisters, are not rated No. 1 because they do not play for whatever reason. Why is it that (Tiger) Woods can play only in his sponsor's tournaments or only when he feels like it every once in a while and still is rated No. 1? Seems like if he was out there every week like Vijay (Singh), slugging away, we would see him slow down a lot. Looks like the media is giving him a free pass and he knows he doesn't have the endurance or the desire to play most weeks. - M. Olirish.
My question is, "What's going on with Tiger?" I'm a Tiger Woods fan, but is he not sending a message that he would rather not participate in these early season pro-am and celebrity tournaments? Is he becoming a snob in his "old age?" Or - as some are asking - is matrimony becoming an option? - Roy Livingstone.
ANSWER: The World Rankings in golf don't necessarily penalize a player for not playing (see below) because points are averaged. A player who competes more, such as Singh, can hurt his ranking, which is one of the flaws of the system. As for Woods' schedule, it is coming under increasing scrutiny. Only two players (Ernie Els and Nick Price) ranked among the top 50 money winners on the PGA Tour last year played fewer events than Woods' 18. They each played 17, but Els also played a full schedule in Europe.
Woods, however, is not doing anything new, and his recent engagement has not altered his schedule. He has never played more than 21 official events since joining the PGA Tour full time in 1997 and has played 18 each of the past two years and 19 in 2001. Before the season begins, you can all but predict his schedule, almost to the tournament, based on past experience. Since 1999 he has led the PGA Tour in victories every year despite the limited schedule and won seven major championships. Woods builds his schedule around the majors. And so far it is difficult to argue with his success.
QUESTION: If a golfer's caddie is late for a tee time and the golfer borrows a club from another golfer, is it legal? If not, what is the penalty? - Hamilton Doney.
ANSWER: It is illegal if the player borrowing the club has 14 clubs in his bag. By using another player's club - even if his bag is not present - it would violate the 14-club limit. The penalty in stroke play is two strokes per hole for a maximum of four strokes. It results in a loss of hole in match play with a maximum of two holes.
QUESTION: In reference to World Golf Rankings, who compiles this data and tabulates these listings? Is it done subjectively or technically? Why doesn't the St. Petersburg Times publish the parameters showing the input methodology, as it does with the BCS chart for college football ratings? Since income potential (endorsements, etc.) and entry into elite championships are based on this ranking system, it should be proved to be scientifically generated, instead of derived through methods possibly akin to those used in the boxing rankings. Please explain! - M.J. DeHarde.
ANSWER: Only the people who compile the World Rankings (International Management Group) can truly explain the situation, which remains a mystery to many of the players who complain about the importance placed on them.
This week's field at the Match Play Championship, for example, was determined by the World Ranking, including seedings.
Here is a brief, though still complicated, explanation: The ranking is derived from points awarded on nine tours around the world, given on the basis of strength of the tour and fields.
Each player's ranking is determined by an overall point total, divided by the number of tournaments entered. Points are accumulated over a "rolling" two-year period and are doubled during the most recent 13-week period..
What is most perplexing to the players is that in many instances a player can sit out a tournament and still improve in the rankings. It likely has to do with something that occurred two years ago, as those events lose importance.
QUESTION: Several years ago I read in the Times of a man who wanted to build a course in the Tampa Bay area that would be in the same class as Innisbrook and Black Diamond. During construction it was learned that the land had formerly been used for a course. Can you give me any further information about this course and its location? - Virginia L. Brown.
ANSWERS: You are thinking of Lake Jovita Golf Club in Dade City.
A course was built on the property in the 1920s, frequented by Gene Sarazen, then neglected during the Depression. When the course was redeveloped in the late 1990s, five original holes were found.
