Golf

When, oh when, will Tiger choose us?

Tournaments such as the Chrysler are the unlucky ones, having to wait till next year in hopes of getting Tiger Woods.

By BOB HARIG
Published October 12, 2006

The plan has worked nearly to perfection, placing quality over quantity. The next time you see Tiger Woods arrive at a tournament unprepared will likely be the first, because he sets up his schedule so he can put full effort into every event he plays.

For 10 years, less has been more, with careful planning to be ready for the major championships, while rarely stringing too many tournaments in a row in order to stay fresh.

The results are impossible to ignore: 12 majors championships, 54 PGA Tour wins.

Woods has accomplished all of this by finding the courses and events he likes, and rarely deviating.

All of which makes it rather frustrating for those events that have never seen the world's best player.

Unless there is a change in plans, Woods will not be at the Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort in two weeks for the Chrysler Championship. The tournament, which is in its fourth and final year of Chrysler's sponsorship, has never been able to get Woods, despite high hopes.

Woods lives just 100 miles away in Orlando, and the Copperhead course at Innisbrook has received high praise from other players.

"Am I surprised? Yes and no," tournament director Gerald Goodman said. "When we first got the date being the week before the Tour Championship, he had played that date before when Disney was the last week. But, traditionally, he has taken the week off before a large tournament. And I think some circumstances affected him coming here. Two years ago, he got married. ...

"(But) I would have thought with the strength of our field and the toughness of our golf course and the way he says he doesn't enjoy (tournaments that are) birdie-fests, that he would have come at least two of the four years."

The four major championships, the three World Golf Championship events and the Players Championship are the absolutes on Woods' schedule.

Others that are all but sure bets are the Mercedes Championship, the Buick Invitational in San Diego and the Nissan Open near Los Angeles. He is also all but a lock to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational (formerly Bay Hill), near where he lives and where he has won four times; Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament, the Buick Open and the Byron Nelson Championship.

Next year, when the FedEx Cup schedule puts playoff events at the end of the year, he likely will play the Barclays Championship, Deutsche Bank Championship and BMW Championship (formerly Western Open) preceding the Tour Championship.

That's 19 tournaments. This year, Woods likely will play just 16 (he might skip next week's tournament at Disney World), but rarely plays more than 20.

And it doesn't leave much room for other events.

"I think I speak for all of those non-Tiger tournaments, we would love to see Tiger play not only more events but to vary his schedule," said Phil Cannon, tournament director of the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, which has never had Woods. "It can be frustrating at times. We also understand the game of golf from an insiders' perspective. It is not like baseball where you can play 162 games in 180 days. There needs to be some off time. We're very conscious of Tiger's schedule, Phil Mickelson's schedule. ... Ernie (Els), Vijay (Singh). Those guys move the needle."

Cannon said he tries to recruit Woods - and others - by simply trying to say hello at various tournaments throughout the year.

Steve Timms, tournament director for the Shell Houston Open - which has never had Woods - takes a different approach.

"We've kind of become accustomed to Tiger's schedule over the past few years," Timms said. "He's had a tremendous amount of success with that formula. Tiger knows that everyone would like to have him in the field. To say we'd like to have him play is overstating the obvious. He can't play every event.

"You have to be somewhat accepting of the fact that he is going to play a certain schedule. As the schedule changes from this year to next, maybe that brings some events into play. Only time will tell. You hope he decides to play your event eventually. You realize he can't play them all.

"But Tiger Woods knows that his presence at a PGA Tour event, or any event, elevates that event. He knows we'd all love to have him."

Goodman did get Woods in 1996, when the local tournament was the JCPenney Classic, an unofficial event that paired PGA and LPGA pros. In order to get Woods, however, he had to do some arm-twisting, getting the LPGA to waive a pros-only restriction so Woods could invite amateur Kelli Kuehne. If Woods considered that a favor, he never returned it.

Nor did he ever return to the Greater Milwaukee Open, the John Deere Classic, the B.C. Open and the Texas Open - tournaments that gave him sponsor exemptions in 1996 when he had no status before winning his first event.

The bay area at least has some hope. The tournament is moving to March beginning in 2007.

"Being four weeks out from the Masters, two weeks after a World Golf event and two weeks before a World event, we feel our chances are good," Goodman said. "I'm sure Tiger, with the new schedule, is going to revamp things."

[Last modified October 12, 2006, 01:47:11]