Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Golf Data Lab Scottish youths championship starts Friday

IAN REDFORD AIMS TO GO ONE
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BETTER AT MONIFIETH
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NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY ROSS DUNCAN OF THE SGU
Scottish boys championship runner-up Ian Redford will be aiming to put the disappointment of his West Kilbride final defeat behind him when he tees off in the Golf Data Lab Scottish youths championship at Monifieth, which gets underway on Friday (May 7 to 9).
The 17-year-old, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, from the New Club St Andrews lost out to Craigielaw’s Grant Forrest last month on the Ayrshire coast but will be hoping to bounce back with a victory on the Angus links and add his name to an impressive list of champions which includes US PGA Tour star Martin Laird, European Tour players Stephen Gallagher and Gregory Bourdy and former Italian Open champion Dean Robertson.
Redford will be joined in a strong field, which was balloted out at 1.7, by the two beaten semi-finalists from West Kilbride in Jack McDonald (Kilmarnock Barassie) and Jamie Lynch (Falkirk Tryst).
Reigning Scottish boys' stroke-play champion McDonald goes into the event with high hopes, following his excellent joint runners-up finish at last week’s Fairhaven Trophy in Lancashire.
Carnoustie’s Angus Cappi will defend the title he won at Renfrew last year, while Edzell’s William Bremner – third in 2009 – will be another Angus player likely to mount a strong challenge on the familiar turf of the Monifieth Medal course.
The host club’s Grant Bowman will fancy his chances on his home patch, fresh from leading his Monifieth side to victory in last week’s Angus boys' county team championship at Letham Grange.
Scottish junior champion of champions winner Simon Fairbairn (Torwoodlee) is another man on form, having also won the first 72-hole SGU Junior Tour event last month at Newmachar with Scotland boys international Scott Gibson (Southerness) also having some impressive finishes in big events this season and will be one to watch.
There is a strong international presence in the field too with players from Germany, Spain, Belgium and Finland all taking part.
Graeme Leslie, Managing Director of sponsors Golf Data Lab whose player analysis programme also supports the Scotland Elite Men’s and Ladies Squads, is looking forward to the Championship:
“Golf Data Lab is delighted to sponsor the Scottish Youths Championship for the second successive year. The strength of the field underlines the quality of young golfers we have coming through in Scotland, with some exciting young players also competing from overseas.”
“We work closely with the Scotland squads at amateur level as well as some of our country’s top professionals so it’s nice to put something back into the game to help develop the next generation of players coming through the ranks. This Championship has a rich pedigree with some great former champions and hopefully this year’s winner can also go onto to make a name for himself.”
The Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths Championship will be played over 72-holes from Friday to Sunday, with the leading 40 players and ties after the second round qualifying for the final two rounds.
Scoring and updates will be available at http://www.scottishgolf.org/.
For more information on Golf Data Lab, log onto http://www.golfdatalab.com/.

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A few dollars more for Russell Knox

Russell Knox from Inverness earned $3,378 for a joint 13th place finish on Sunday in the weekend Hooters Tour event, the Savannah Lakes Village classic at Monticello Golf Club, McCormick in South Carolina.
Russell started well and finished well with a 66 and 68 but two 71s (over a par-72 course of 7,032yd) in the middle lost him ground on a satellite tour where the standard of scoring is phenomenal. Knox finished on 276, 12 under par but five shots behind the winner of the $40,000 jackpot prize, Will Wilcox from Alabama with scores of 65, 68, 67 and 61 for 271.
He won by a shot from Patrick Nagle (California) with 71, 66, 68 and 67 for the $19,923 runner-up prize.

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PGA Scottish Region Scoreboard
SCOTTISH WATERAIRD PRO-AM
Kilmarnock Barassie GC, Ayrshire
TEAM TOTALS
Par 72
59 Robert Arnott (Bishopbriggs Golf Range), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle).
60 Fraser Mann (Musselburgh), Craig Matheson (Falkirk Tryst), Colin Gillies (Braid Hills), Lee Harper (Archerfield Links).
61 Chris Doak (unatt).
62 Craig Lee (Aspire Golf Centre), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills).
63 Neil Fenwick (Dunbar)
64 Gordon Sherry (Gordon Sherry Golf), Scott Herald (Mearns Castle), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie), Chris Kelly (Cawder), Graham Fox (East Kilbride).
65 Stuart Pardoe (unatt), Gareth Wright (West Linton), James McGhee (Turnhouse), James McKinnon (Irvine), Andrew Oldcorn (Kings Acre).
66 Samuel Cairns (Colville Park), Mark King (Kingsfield).
67 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank), Stephen Gray (Hayston).
68 Steven Taylor (Bothwell Castle), Scott Henderson (Kings Links).
69 David Patrick (Elie).
70 Edward Thomson (Senit Associates).

*Official tour scoring and statistics provided by the Professional Golfers' Association

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Sir Patrick (Paddy) Hine to
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be R&A captain 2010-2011

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R&A
The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews has announced Air Chief Marshal Sir Patrick (Paddy) Hine GCB GBE as Captain for the year 2010-2011.
Each year the Past Captains meet to confer upon the nomination and the announcement was made today at the Club’s May Business Meeting. The new Captain will assume office later this year following the traditional driving in ceremony on Thursday, September 23.
Paddy Hine became a member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in 1995. A distinguished Amateur golfer, he was an England Boy International in 1948 and 1949 and won the Hampshire County Championship, the Carris Trophy and the Brabazon Trophy in 1949.
He joined the Royal Air Force in 1950 and trained as a jet fighter pilot. He was a member of No 111 Squadron’s famous Black Arrows formation aerobatic team from 1957-59. Perhaps the most noteworthy performance by the Black Arrows was the celebrated loop and barrel roll of 22 Hunter aircraft during the 1958 Farnborough Display week. This is the greatest number of aircraft ever to have looped in formation, and is still a world record today.
In 1975, Sir Patrick was appointed Director of Public Relations for the RAF and then Assistant Chief of Air Staff for Policy, Plans and Budget from 1979-83. He became Commander of Second Tactical Air Force and Commander-in-Chief of RAF Germany in 1983 before being appointed Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from 1985-87 and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Strike Command in 1988.
Sir Patrick was made Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in 1989, and Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1991. He is currently King of Arms of the Order of the British Empire. From 1990-1991 he was Joint Commander of all British Forces during the Gulf War.
At the end of a long and illustrious career he retired from the RAF in 1991 having reached the rank of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Strike Command and Commander-in-Chief, NATO’s UK Air Forces. Sir Patrick served as the Military Adviser to British Aerospace 1992-99 and worked as a defence and aerospace consultant from 1999-2005.
Resident in Christchurch, Dorset, Sir Patrick is married to Jill and they have three sons and nine grandchildren. He is a member of the Senior Golfers Society and the Royal Air Force Club and plays to a handicap of 12 at his home golf club, Brokenhurst Manor, Hampshire.

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Tiger Woods admits personal life is impacting on his game

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Mark Garrod
Nine holes of practice had seen five balls disappear into water, but when Tiger Woods spoke to reporters in Florida it was clear the state of his game is not his major worry right now.
Four days after crashing to a 79 and missing the cut at Quail Hollow by an incredible eight shots, Woods looked and sounded thoroughly down as he tries to prepare for the £6.2 million Players Championship, golf's richest event.Amid continuing reports his Swedish wife is seeking a divorce over the sex scandal that rocked sport five months ago, the world No 1 admitted that his emotional turmoil is impacting on his golf.
"Absolutely," said Woods, who has Ian Poulter as one of his two partners in the opening two rounds at Sawgrass and who could lose top spot in the rankings to Phil Mickelson if he is outside the first five on Sunday and his compatriot wins.
"I've had two different low moments (in my life). Obviously what I'm going through now and (before that) my father's death."
This is the third event of his comeback. In the first he managed what many considered, given the circumstances, a brilliant fourth place in The Masters, but last week was arguably the worst of his career.
Invited to compare this return to golf to last year after an eight-month injury lay-off he replied: "This is more taxing, certainly away from the golf course with paparazzi following me and all those kind of things. I didn't have the distractions getting ready for events. You know, helicopters don't normally fly over you on the range and kind of hover and film you.
"That wasn't the case then, but that's the case now."

SCROLL DOWN FOR ANOTHER VIEWPOINT ON TIGER WOODS

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Fred Couples too tired, pulls out of Players Championship

Fred Couples is not an old man ... he just feels like one!
Fred has withdrawn today from the Players Championship and will be replaced in tomorrow's field by rookie Troy Merritt.
The move comes as no surprise. After missing the cut last week at the Quail Hollow Championship, Couples said: “I’m tired. I’m going home. I committed to (The Players), but I don’t think I can possibly go. That’s about it. I had a nice little run, but now I’m going home for a little rest.”
Quail Hollow was Couples’ sixth consecutive week of competition. The grueling stretch was split evenly between US PGA Tour (Shell Houston Open, Masters, Quail Hollow) and Champions Tour (Cap Cana, Outback, Liberty Mutual) on which he is a rookie at the age of 50, and a very successful one at that.
Couples is a two-time Players Championship winner (1984, 1996).





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Reference Martin Dempster's article about clubgolf
(scroll down to read it)

Response from Jenny Louden

I think this subject is long overdue a little perspective.
Clubgolf is a politically-driven initiative introduced off the back of the Ryder Cup Gleneagles announcement: a political wheeze turned quango. ushered in to give Scotland the appearance of being a forward-looking golf nation.
The Player Pathway is plausible alright but in practice is fundamentally flawed because, ultimately, its success or failure was always going to hinge on whether or not clubs fully embraced clubgolf in the transition from school playground to golf course.
Indeed, was there ever any meaningful consultation between government and clubs before such a scheme involving public money was announced?
The Golf Foundation's earliest schemes involved introducing children to the game via schools as far back as the middle of the last century and yet, with clubs today struggling to survive as the result of falling memberships, can its efforts truly be deemed successful?
For me, the litmus test for the success of any such scheme depends on whether or not the number of girls staying in golf dramatically increases.
Fifty-eight and seven years on respectively, I'm still waiting ...
Jenny Louden, Inverness
PS Is this 'initiative' going to be publicly funded indefinitely or will be it sink without trace once the Ryder Cup has been and gone? Just askin'.

Response from Ian Muir, PGA professional, Elie Sports Club.

Well done, Jenny, in highlighting the fact that clubgolf is nothing more than a smokescreen for political purposes.
I think that we are all disappointed that the clubgolf scheme has failed to deliver more juniors into our clubs and I would like to throw in a few points for discussion.
Out of the thousands of children given the opportunity to play classroom golf, how many actually got to play at a golf club or were even given the chance to try "real" golf?
Where is the the link from the classroom to the golf club?
What happens to wee Johnny who tries 1st clubgolf in primary 5 and decides not to try golf at the time but in primary 6 he wants to play? A nine years of age - is that the one and only chance you get to be introduced to golf? Who follows this up?
One of the reasons I agree with the comments from Jenny is that my assistants and I have been delivering 1st clubgolf into primary schools for the last two years and have had little or no return.
My stats for 2009 - We taught 284 pupils 1st clubgolf in school ... 32 people came to the Sports Club for a free taster ... 12 attended a six-week block for £25 and four joined at a reduced rate of £25 for the year.
Feedback from the 2008 pupils who didn't come to the club: ''I would have liked to try golf again but I didn't know how to.'' Also: ''I would loved to try real golf.''
If the general consensus is that it's not working, surely we must change the strategy. All we read about is that X amount of children try golf.
I have yet to see any stats to prove that its working, and they are joining clubs.

Ian Muir

PGA Professional
Elie Sports Club

PS What ever happened to the clubgolf style programme to introduce adults to the game? Maybe for another day.

.

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KRIS NICOL RISES IN 172 PLACES
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IN WORLD AMATEUR RANKINGS
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By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Fraserburgh Golf Club greenkeeper's Kris Nicol's runner-up finish in the prestigious Lytham Trophy in Lancashire at the weekend has seen him soar 172 places in this week's R&A updated World Amateur Golf Rankings.
Over the past year or so, Kris, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, has been steadily putting together a list of good performances, including winning last year's North of Scotland open amateur stroke-play championship, but this was by far his best yet, given the quality of the opposition.
Nicol has risen to No 377. He still has eight Scots ahead of him, including James Byrne (Banchory), the top Scot in 36th place.
With the decision of Italian teenager Matteo Manassero to turn professional, there is a new No 1 world amateur - American Peter Uihlein. Canadian Nick Taylor is No 2 and Tommy Fleetwood, the Englishman who won last year's Scottish men's open amateur title at Murcar Links, has gone up three places to No 3.
New R&A WAGR leading positions
1 Peter Uihlein (US) (up 3 places).
2 Nick Taylor (Can) (+1).
3 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) (+3).
4 Victor Dubuisson (Fra) (-2).
5 Bud Cauley (US) (+2).
6 Jonathan Randolph (US) (+2).
7 Patrick Reed (US) (+2).
8 Jesper Kennegard (Swe) (+10).
9 David Lingmerth (Swe) (+1).
10 Russell Henley (US) (+1).
Scots in the top 1000 of the world rankings:
36 James Byrne (-1).
42 Ross Kellett (+1).
174 Michael Stewart (+7).
260 Glenn Campbell (+7).
271 James White (+62).
280 Stuart Ballingall (+1).
306 Philip McLean (+59).
358 Mark Hillson (-78).
377 Kris Nicol (+172).
424 David Law (-24).
525 Bobby Rushford (+1).
551 James Hamilton (-94).
583 Greg Paterson (-4).
610 Steven McEwan (-37).
642 James Ross (+41).
643 Fraser McKenna (-40).
657 Scott Crichton (-4).
666 Peter Latimer (no change).
668 Daniel Sommerville (+1).
683 Gordon Yates (+6).
726 Gordon Stevenson (-3).
739 Craig Watson (-8).
770 Mark Bookless (-41).
789 Paul Ferrier (+7).
816 Scott Borrowman (-10).
853 Paul Shields (-15).
872 Steven Rennie (-19).
889 Sam Binning (-18).
910 Fraser Fotheringham (-13).
922 Ross Crowe (-18).
937 Paul Betty (-13).
941 Andrew Gunson (-11).
955 Michael Daily (-14).
975 Alexander Culverwell (-18).

Editor's note: If, like me, you are wondering who "James Hamilton," the Scot at No 551 is - I can tell you that he is a New Zealand amateur who played in the British amateur championship at Turnberry a couple of years ago and, on Sunday, finished seventh in New Zealand's Tauranga Open which is open to professionals and amateurs.

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...........................................................................................ED WOOD



CLUB PRO IAN GRAHAM
















......................................MATCH-PLAY FINALISTS ............................JORDAN GALLAGHER
Crow Wood launch new members' drive on Sunday

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY CROW WOOD GOLF CLUB
Like the majority of golf clubs in Scotland today, Crow Wood has seen a decline in member numbers over the last few years.
Rather than accepting this decrease as the norm, they have taken the initiative and established a marketing sub-committee that has come with a variety of incentives designed to attract new members, which will be launched at an Open Day this coming Sunday, May 9.
Captain John Scott commented “Crow Wood Golf Club has always been at the heart of our community, and we are keen to promote family membership, both golfing and social, and to make it much easier for young people to access to golf in our area.
"Junior golf at Crow Wood is a very attractive option for young people, especially as we have one of the youngest PGA Professionals attached to our club, who invests a great deal of his time coaching and supporting our young aspiring Tiger Woods. Ian is himself a product of our youth system, and is a past Crow Wood Club Champion at both Junior and Senior level”
Current junior club champion, Jordan Gallagher, was recently involved in the Scottish boys' match-play championship at West Kilbride and reached the third round, carrying over his fine form from last season.
Crow Wood can boast a first for any Lanarkshire county club, with the County Order of Merit, stroke-play and match-play champions for 2009 all members of the club.
Starting with back-to-back victories in the Cadzow Cup at Hamilton, with a record breaking score of 65 and 68, and two rounds of 67 and 70 in the Lanarkshire county championship at Colville Park, Ed Wood was crowned stroke-play champion and cemented his place at the top of the Lanarkshire Order of Merit with a record number of points.
Allan McDonald became match-play champion in July 2009, with the match-play stages featuring no fewer than four of the 16 qualifiers from Crow Wood.
For further details about the Open Day, contact
George Blyth, secretary@crowwood-golfclub.co.uk, tel 0141 779 4954 or visit www.crowwood-golfclub.co.uk

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Carson hopes to enter pro ranks as Lothians champion

FROM THE EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS WEBSITE
By MARTIN DEMPSTER
Robert Carson is aiming to bow out of amateur golf with a bang by winning this week's Lothians Championship at Royal Burgess.
The 21-year-old Marriott Dalmahoy player revealed after a first-round success over Craigmillar Park's Alex Robertson last night that he's about to turn professional.
"I'm going to do my PGA training," said Carson, who revealed his decision had been influenced by the fact he's found it increasingly difficult to get into top amateur events.
"Two years ago, when I was playing off plus three, I got into everything but, off scratch, you can't get into anything," he added.
Carson, who admits his handicap has crept up due to the tougher East Course at Dalmahoy these days, played well from tee to green in beating Robertson and now faces Royal Musselburgh's Craig Johnstone in tonight's second round.
Up at 5.00am to get through to Glasgow, where he works as an electrical engineer for Network Rail, Johnstone had enough energy left in his tank to beat Kingsknowe's Scott Knowles, the 1980 winner, by 5 and 4.
"On the two previous occasions I qualified I was unable to play in the match-play phase," revealed Johnstone, a former winner of Royal Musselburgh's Old Club Cup, the oldest trophy continually played for in golf after being up for grabs since 1774.
Not for the first time in the event's history, the qualifying proved no pointer whatsoever in terms of potential champions. That's because the three players who tied for 140 at Castle Park and Royal Musselburgh all went out in the first round.
Scott Young's exit on Monday night has been followed by defeats for both Graham Robertson and Stephen Simants as well. Robertson's miserable record in the match-play phase continued as the Silverknowes man went down by 3 and 1 to Deer Park's Alan Crawford.
Playing in the event for the first time, Crawford, a 30-year-old project manager, revealed afterwards that he'll have a dilemma if he makes it to the semi-finals on Saturday morning as his stag do is planned for Friday night.
"The qualifying on Saturday was my first game of the year and, to be honest, I didn't expect to make it through," said Crawford, who faces Duddingston's David Miller in the second round. A semi-finalist at Longniddry in 2008, Miller had six birdies in beating Linlithgow's Stuart McMehen by 3 and 1 in one of the best games of the night.
McMehen's clubmate, Calum Grant, also looked to be heading out when he was four down at one point against Ricky Moffat of Dundas Parks. Following a remarkable turnaround, Grant was one up playing the last, lost that to a birdie-3 but eventually won through at the fifth extra hole.
His opponent tonight is Silverknowes' Paul Heggie, who also staged a good recovery to beat Simants, a semi-finalist 12 months ago, on the final green.
Another debutant, Heggie, 24, was three down after eight, level after 12 and got his nose in front for the first time with three holes to play. Dunbar man Simants responded with a hole-winning eagle-3 at the 16th only to lose the next to a par and Heggie closed the door by hitting the green with his 3-wood tee-shot at the last.
More than 20 years after he last qualified, Prestonfield's Scott Johnston chalked up a notable success as he beat Graham Davidson of Winterfield by 3 and 2, the same margin as Carrickvale's Craig Elliot beat Nick Aiken of Longniddry.
"In qualifying again after 22 years I've shown that was no fluke," joked 46-year-old Johnston, who was four up after ten, lost the ninth and tenth but progressed when his opponent saw a four-footer lip out at the 16th.
Elliot, now 38 but still playing off plus three, reckoned he didn't miss many greens in his success and will be hoping for the same again when he faces Johnston at the bottom of the draw in round two.
Last night's results:
FIRST-ROUND (continued)
R Carson (Marriott Dalmahoy) bt A Robertson (Craigmillar Park) 2 and 1.
C Johnstone (Royal Musselburgh) bt S Knowles (Kingsknowe) 5 and 4.
A Crawford (Deer Park) bt G Robertson (Silverknowes) 3 and 1.
D Miller (Duddingston) bt S McMehen (Linlithgow) 3 and 1.
C Grant (Linlithgow) bt R Moffat (Dundas Parks) at 23rd.
P Heggie (Suilverknowes) bt S Simants (Dunbar) 1 hole.
C Elliot (Carrickvale) bt N Aiken (Longniddry) 3 and 2.
S Johnston (Prestonfield) bt G Davidson (Winterfield) 3 and 2.

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Rowallan Castle project at Kilmaurs near Kilmarnock

First Monty-designed course in Scotland opens to the public

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
There was no blaze of publicity and the man himself wasn't there to witness the occasion but the first course to be designed in Scotland by Colin Montgomerie is now open to the public.
The "official opening" of Rowallan Castle, close to where Montgomerie grew up in Troon, was revealed in a press release issued yesterday but a spokesman for Rowallan Castle said an official grand opening next month is in the final stages of preparation, when Europe's Ryder Cup captain will be there to show off the latest addition to his design portfolio.
The £55 million project was launched in 2005, when Montgomerie and Niall Campbell, the owner and managing director, jointly hosted a press briefing within the historic Rowallan Castle and shared their enthusiasm about what was being created just off the M77 at Kilmaurs, near Kilmarnock.
Following a "soft opening" last August for some limited play over a three-month period, the course is fully operational and Montgomerie, who is in Turin this week for the BMW Italian Open, is pleased to hear that.
"I am absolutely delighted that golfers will now have the opportunity to play the first golf course I have designed in my homeland," said the eight-time European No 1. "It is certainly a very proud day for me and another high point in what is proving to be a very exciting year."
Campbell said: "I couldn't be more pleased with the way the golf course and the clubhouse are shaping up. I truly believe that we have a totally unique set up, with a championship standard course and a clubhouse that is quirky, fun and incredibly comfortable and welcoming."
While Campbell's initial plan was to have a debenture scheme, that has now been scrapped and instead it will operate similar to most golf clubs in Scotland as a private members' club. The joining fee and annual subscription are both believed to be comparable to a lot of the leading clubs in other parts of Ayrshire.
According to the spokesman, it already has a "healthy membership" and a recruitment drive is about to be launched now the course has been opened.
"We are looking for both individual and corporate members while there will also be a limited 'pay and play' for prospective members," he added.
Montgomerie has created the course in association with European Golf Design. The Scot has designed more than a dozen courses around the world, including Carton House outside Dublin, the Royal Golf Club at Riffa Views, Bahrain, The Montgomerie in Dubai, Papillon Golf Club in Turkey and the recently opened Montgomerie Links in Vietnam.
+The above article appears in The Scotsman newspaper today.

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Weary Tiger Woods in no mood for war of words

FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH WEBSITE
By MARK REASON at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Run, Tiger, run. Woods turned up at Tuesday's press conference, but he wasn't really there. Tiger looked tired. Tiger looked lonely. Tiger looked an empty man. Even the air around the gifted one seemed hollow.
When Woods emerged from behind the blue curtain in February he was ready to fake the full frontal presidential address. When Woods walked through the middle of the press gang at the Masters last month he was ready to take everyone on. But on Tuesday Woods looked like someone we just made up.
Woods recalled last week's awful golf at Quail Hollow and said with thin irony: "It couldn't get any worse. I teed it up really well, I didn't have any balls fall off tees." It wasn't even gallows humour. There was less life in it than that.
As Woods droned on, the stories kept swirling over his head like the helicopters that never seem to go away. On Tuesday it was revealed that a part-time police officer who has been providing security for Elin and the children has a somewhat seamy past.
The Orlando Sentinel, Wood's home-town paper, reported that Timothy Nash, who regularly guards the family, "resigned from the Orange County Sheriff's Office while facing termination for two incidents, including getting drunk and dragging an ex-girlfriend by her hair out of Rachel's, an adult-entertainment club in south Orlando". Is this fiction? Are we still inventing Tiger Woods?
It may be an odd question, but is there any real difference between Tiger and Rabbit, the fictional hero of John Updike's great modern American tetralogy?
Rabbit Angstrom is a one-time great hoopster who runs from his pregnant wife and child to be with a 'hooker.' Rabbit's an egocentric, a betrayer, a sportsman, a dreamer, a dad of two. The stories of the two men are wondrously similar.
Rabbit gets lost in the trees at the end, Woods gets lost in his own name. Even the words Tiger Woods don't belong to him any more, but have become a tired metaphor for straying from the path, a Tiger lost in the Woods.
And so Woods stares out bleakly into the room of American journalists who only seem to want to know about his swing (he put his ball in the water five times in nine holes during yesterday's practice).
What's the point of a proper question, they seem to ask – you can't nail a fiction.
Ask Woods what he thinks about the Sports Illustrated poll which revealed that 24 per cent of his fellow pros think that he has used performance-enhancing drugs. Woods stares ahead.
Ask Woods how he reacted to that news. He says robotically: "I've never taken it. I've never taken performance-enhancing drugs, never taken HGH, never taken any of that stuff. But everyone is entitled to their opinion."
But that wasn't the question. No one asked Woods to repeat his mantra of denial. The question was about his emotional reaction to the news that a quarter of his fellow pros thought he was juiced up. Wasn't he angry?
Woods smiles and says: "After what's happened in my life?" A lot of people have stopped believing in Tiger Woods. He's just a story now. Even the ink on Woods's status as the world No 1 is beginning to fade.
If Phil Mickelson wins the Players Championship and Woods finishes outside the top five then the Philibuster will take over as the world No 1. Woods doesn't mince up the question as he would have done a couple of years ago. He just says: "I've had it happen before."
You see, it's all part of the story. Once Mickelson cowered at the sight of Woods. Now he has beaten Woods on four of the previous five head-to-heads. Mickelson says: "There's a number of reasons I just don't want to go into. But there has been a change."
The change is in Woods. He doesn't even have the strength left to defend his coach Hank Haney. Woods always blazed when Haney was doubted. Now there is barely an ember. Mickelson has become Mr America and Tiger is just a silly character from an old comic.
But like all superheroes, you know he will be back.

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