This version of Woods seems like a nostalgia act

CARNOUSTIE, Scotland — All around him on a windy summer day on the links of Carnoustie, the leaders were imploding as Tiger Woods moved into the lead at the turn. It felt like old times at the British Open, as familiar as his Sunday (Monday Manila time) red shirt and the swarm of fans that cheered his every shot.

Then Woods imploded, too, and there's something that's become increasingly familiar about that.

If this was the Woods of 15 years ago, he likely would be "the champion golfer of the year," as they say over here, and have his name on the claret jug a fourth time. The fans felt this could be the culmination of the comeback. Twitter told late-rising Americans to get to their screens, and fans at church services checked the scores from Scotland incredulously.

But what felt like old times for a brief moment ended up as just another collapse story, like the ones Woods' fans have seen more recently.


Francesco Molinari, Woods' partner on Sunday, won the tournament with no bogeys over the final 37 holes . Woods finished tied for sixth.

Woods flinched when it mattered most, the nerves of a 42-year-old on display for all to see. Just when he took the lead and everyone's imagination began to swirl about what might be, he kicked away his best chance of breaking a decade-long drought in major championships.

Even a long hug from his two children afterward wasn't enough to ease the sting.

"A little ticked off at myself, for sure," Woods said. "I had a chance starting that back nine to do something, and I didn't do it."

Woods had the tournament in his hands after hitting a brilliant fairway bunker shot to make par on No. 10. He walked to the next tee with a one-shot lead.

Then his tee shot went right, and his second shot veered way left. Woods got a break by hitting someone in the gallery, but then left his pitch hanging precariously on the side of a pot bunker.
When he missed an 8-footer to make double bogey he was out of the lead. Another bogey on the next hole, and he was basically out of the tournament.

It used to be that Woods was steely and superhuman, and no one dared get in his way. Now he's more of a nostalgia act teasing fans with sparks of his past greatness.

"He wouldn't tell you, but he's human," Jordan Spieth said. "That kind of pressure that he would have felt leading the Open on a Sunday is no different than anybody else, especially having not experienced it for so long."

Spieth had his own issues, of course, kicking away a share of the lead on his way to a fat 76 in the final round. But Spieth is a 24-year-old with three major titles and many years to get more.

Woods is in a race against time — and that's a race no one ever seems to win.

"It didn't feel any different," he insisted. "It didn't feel any different to be next to the lead and knowing what I need to do. I've done it so many different ways."

But it was different, as different as his bald spot is to the full head of hair he had in his prime.

It wasn't like the course wasn't gettable. Molinari didn't make a bogey on his way to a 69 while playing alongside Woods. A Brit named Eddie Pepperell shot 67 with a hangover to end up tied with him.

"Sometimes I have a few drinks," said Pepperell, who finished as Woods was in the lead. "Tiger is minus-7, he didn't have a drink last night, I bet. Proper athlete."

Of that there is little doubt. Woods looks as strong as he did in his prime, even though he's had surgeries, a sex-scandal, a divorce and a drug-related DUI.

But good muscles don't mean calm nerves. And throughout his comeback year Woods has misfired every time he has gotten near contention.

It might be because there is so much as stake, despite a legacy from his earlier years that is already in golf's record books.

Another major would have validated years of struggles. A tie for sixth means nothing.

Woods embraced his two children, telling them he hoped they were proud of him for trying hard. He spoke about it later, in a rare personal admission for a player who grew up as a celebrity and has fought hard to keep his privacy over the years.

"It's pretty emotional because they gave me some pretty significant hugs there and squeezed," Woods said. "I know that they know how much this championship means to me and how much it feels good to be back playing again. To me, it's just so special to have them aware because I've won a lot of golf tournaments in my career, but they don't remember any of them."

It was a tender moment between a father and his kids, but also another reminder that Father Time waits for no one.

Not even Tiger Woods.

source: philstar.com

Rory McIlroy wins dramatic shootout to capture PGA title

LOUISVILLE – Rory McIlroy put himself among golf’s greatest legends Sunday by winning his fourth major title in dramatic fashion, capturing the PGA Championship in a shotmakers’ showdown at rain-softened Valhalla.

Three weeks after winning the British Open, the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland rallied on the back nine to take his second major victory in a row and third consecutive triumph overall in impressive fashion.

“Amazing. Incredible. I’m not sure I’ll ever have another summer like this,” McIlroy said. “I’ve got a lot of golf left to play this year, but I have to enjoy what I’ve just done.”

McIlroy fired a three-under par 68 in the final round to finish 72 holes on 16-under par 268 and edge five-time major winner Phil Mickelson by one shot with Sweden’s fourth-ranked Henrik Stenson and American Rickie Fowler two adrift.

McIlroy’s hat-trick of victories after the British Open and a World Golf Championships event last week give him the longest win streak since Tiger Woods completed a run of five in a row in 2008.

McIlroy became the fourth-youngest man to win his fourth major — trailing only Young Tom Morris, Woods and Jack Nicklaus — and has taken four of the past 15 majors contested.

“I try and put all this talk aside every time it comes up, but Tiger and Jack are two of the most successful players in our sport of all time,” McIlroy said.

“I’m on a nice track at the minute and I’m on a nice path. I’ve still got a long way to go, but to be in their company at this age is very special.”

McIlroy is the first man to win two majors in a row or in the same year since Ireland’s Padraig Harrington took the British Open and PGA in 2008.

Combined with German Martin Kaymer’s US Open triumph in June, McIlroy’s double means Europeans have won three of four majors in a year for the first time.

McIlroy took the Wanamaker Trophy, even grabbing the lid as it fell during the awards ceremony, and a $1.8 million (1.34 million euro) top prize.

Eagle lets McIlroy soar

A backstretch trophy battle worthy of anything the Kentucky Derby horses at nearby Churchill Downs ever produced came on a course weakened by 2.2 inches of rain over three days.

Bogeys at the third and sixth holes dropped McIlroy from the lead and even after a birdie at seven he made the turn three off the pace set by penultimate pair Mickelson and Fowler.

At the par-5 10th, McIlroy smashed his second shot 274 yards and made a seven-foot eagle putt to pull within one stroke of the leaders.

“That was the turning point in the whole tournament for me,” McIlroy said. “I struggled on the front nine and then to get myself within one of Rickie and Phil, I felt like I had a really good chance.”

US left-hander Mickelson found the rough at 16, bounced his bunker shot over the hole and left a 10-foot par putt just short for bogey.

McIlroy found a fairway bunker at 17 but hit to 10 feet and curled in the birdie putt for a two-shot lead.

An earlier rain delay had forced the players to race nightfall to finish, with dark clouds looming as the drama reached the par-5 18th hole.

McIlroy found a greenside bunker with his approach, made while Mickelson and Fowler were on the green in the dimming light.

“It was a classy move for those guys to let us come up because they didn’t need to,” McIlroy said. “They could have let us just stand there and wait in darkness and make it a little bit more difficult. True sportsmanship. They called us up and it was a classy move.”

Mickelson missed an 70-foot eagle bid but tapped in for birdie to pull within one of McIlroy while Fowler settled for par to end his title hopes.

McIlroy blasted out to 34 feet, left a birdie putt inches short and tapped in to win.

Defeat hurts for US duo

“It was good for me to get back in the thick of it, to compete in big tournaments,” said Mickelson, whose only prior top-10 effort this year was a January runner-up finish at Abu Dhabi.

“I’m disappointed in the outcome. Had I been able to finish those last five or six holes strong, could have totally flipped the way I look at this year.”

Fowler, the US and British Open runner-up who also shared fifth at the Masters, matched Nicklaus and Woods as the only players to finish in the top five at all four majors one year, the first since Woods did it in 2005 but also the first to do so without a win.

“This is probably the one that hurts the most for me with the majors this year,” Fowler said. “I just wish I could have given myself a couple of better looks on the last couple holes.”

source: interaksyon.com