Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked player, left here Tuesday night on the eve of The Players Championship for California, reportedly to join his father, Earl.
There were rumors at the TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday that Woods had withdrawn from the tournament, which begins today. However, agent Mark Steinberg issued a brief statement saying Woods would return to Florida and play in the tournament, which he won in 2001.
Earl Woods was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1999; after his son won his fourth Masters title last year, a tearful Tiger said the victory was more meaningful because of Earl’s struggles with his health.
Steinberg would say only that Woods’ departure was “personal.” Woods’ first-round tee time is 12:33 p.m. local time.
Woods finished tied for 20th in last week’s Bay Hill Invitational, his worst 72-hole finish this season. He played a practice round Tuesday morning with Sean O’Hair and Jason Gore before departing.
Modern times
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem admitted in a news conference Wednesday that all the changes to the new, much-ballyhooed 2007 schedule still haven’t been decided. Much of the uncertainty revolves around the fall season, with the chance that some current events may be dropped. This week Booz Allen dropped out as the sponsor for the Washington, D.C., stop. Finchem said the tour needs to find a new title sponsor by July.
There is a lot of speculation about how often the top players would compete under the new format, particularly during the 10-week stretch that starts with the British Open in July and ends with September’s Tour Championship.
The International, for instance, will be played July 5-8 next year, two weeks before the British Open.
Asked if he thought the daunting stretch might cause more players to try to improve their physical fitness, Vijay Singh, regarded as one of the hardest workers on tour, shrugged.
“You’d be surprised at how many guys work out. They may pretend like they don’t, but they do,” Singh said. “Everybody works out. They may not work out as much as me, but they’re not 43 years old, either.
“I don’t think there will be a problem. You know, we don’t travel by bus anymore.”
We’re fine, thank you
The Players Championship is moving to May next season. The TPC will close in about two weeks to undergo extensive changes, including resurfacing all but five fairways along with installing a new irrigation system.
Finchem said the new date and changes will help ensure the course will consistently play firmer and faster. However, unlike Augusta National and other tour venues, the TPC won’t be lengthened.
“Frankly, we’re not excited about changes in the golf course being the story,” Finchem said. “We want the golf course and the history of the golf course to be the story, not that myself or some group of people or some group of players got together and decided that it was a golf course that needed to be significantly changed.”
Footnotes
Defending champion Fred Funk, on the trend to lengthen golf courses: “My son loves the game of golf, (but) he’s a little guy. I don’t feel with where the game has gone that he will ever have a chance to play on the PGA Tour because he doesn’t hit the ball far enough.” … Chris DiMarco suffered a rib injury last week during a vacation in Colorado, then aggravated it this week. He withdrew from the tournament Wednesday and was replaced by rookie Camilo Villegas.
Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-820-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
