Tiger Woods talked constantly about how his intense conditioning program enabled him to handle the brutally hot weather in Tulsa. He said all those hours of running, lifting and stretching paid off when he won the PGA Championship.
“You pay the price,” Woods said. “You go outwork everybody and days like this or weeks like this, it shows. When I walked up 18 (in the final round), I felt the same way as I did going off the first tee. I felt great.”
On Friday, though, Woods suddenly didn’t feel so great, announcing he wasn’t up to playing in the first event in the PGA Tour’s new playoff series, the Barclays Classic.
Woods said on his Web site, “My body is spent and I need a break.”
So what’s the deal? Woods, muscles popping out of his red shirt, looks as if he could make a bid to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in the decathlon, if so inclined.
Yes, contending in a major is taxing, a mental and physical grind, even when the conditions are in the 70s with a nice wind blowing. But runners-up Woody Austin and Ernie Els also endured the pressure, not to mention the heat, and they are playing this week.
The bottom line is Woods would have had nine days off before he had to show up in Westchester, N.Y., for his Barclay’s pro-am on Wednesday. That should have been more than enough time for a finely conditioned athlete like Woods to recover.
And even if Woods was a bit tired, so what? This is one tournament where the biggest star most definitely needed to be in the field.
The FedEx Cup playoff series is the biggest innovation in golf in decades. Instead of the golf season effectively ending with the PGA Championship, the PGA Tour has devised a four-tournament climax.
It begins on Thursday with the 144 players who have qualified for the Barclays Classic. The field will be reduced to 120 players for the Deutsche Bank Championship outside of Boston the following week.
The top 70 players on the points list at that point then make their way to Chicago for the BMW Championship Sept. 6-9 at Cog Hill. The FedEx Cup will conclude with the top 30 players advancing to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
The winner will get a $10 million bonus — deferred compensation, put into the player’s retirement plan.
The PGA Tour has spent millions of dollars to market its “new era of golf.” The campaign, though, has hardly captured the public’s imagination and the players are confused about the format.
But to be fair to the tour, it probably is going to take at least one run through the playoffs before everyone has an idea of how the new format works.
From the beginning, it was clear Woods’ participation was key to the FedEx Cup’s success. Unhappy with the Tour Championship being held in November, he lobbied PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem for a shorter season.
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Woods then appeared in a TV commercial to try to pump up interest in the FedEx Cup. At the PGA Championship, he said his “intent” was to play in all four tournaments.
Now Woods has opted to skip the first one. Instead of the focus at the Barclay’s being on the FedEx Cup, the stories will be about the one player who decided not to be there.
Woods had to know that would be the case. He had to know he was doing serious damage to the FedEx’s credibility by skipping a quarter of the events.
Obviously, Woods doesn’t need the money. By the time Woods retires, he will be a billionaire and then some. That $10 million in his retirement account will look pretty puny.
Regardless of what Woods does in the FedEx Cup events, he already has locked up player of the year honors by virtue of winning five tournaments, including a major. And Woods still could win the FedEx despite missing the Barclays.
Woods probably is bigger than the game. But he owed it to the tour to support its grand plan by being on board for all four tournaments, at least in its first year.
The FedEx definitely has flaws that need to be addressed. But give credit to the PGA Tour for trying to boost the profile of golf at a time of year when it usually fades from view.
Woods not playing is Finchem’s worst nightmare. Instead of starting with a bang, the FedEx will begin with a big thud, thanks to Woods.
Rising star
Ravi Patel, 18, of Naperville became the youngest winner of the Illinois State Amateur with his two-shot victory over Todd Mitchell on Thursday in Tuscola. Patel will play at Northwestern this fall.
“I think he has a great tenacity,” said Patel’s coach, Todd Sones, who operates out of White Deer Run in Vernon Hills. “He has an incredible desire to be a great player. You don’t have to tell him to practice. He does the things he needs to do.”
The oldest player in the field, Joel Hirsch, tied for 24th. The 66-year-old Hirsch showed he has some solid golf left in him, shooting 69-74-73.
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