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Tiger Tuesdays

The day Tiger Woods and John Daly lit up TPC Harding Park

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This week’s 2020 PGA Championship will be one of the few occasions golf fans will get to see the top players in the world tackle TPC Harding Park. Some will remember the WGC-Match Play that took place here in 2015, while others will have memories of the 2009 Presidents Cup. 

For those lucky enough to have watched the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship, however, that is the occasion that will remain the lasting memory of the West Coast course.

On that Sunday, TPC Harding Park served up one of the most exciting final days in modern golf’s history.

The Back 9

John Daly led Tiger Woods, who was playing in the group in front, by three strokes at the turn on Sunday. That would quickly change, however, as Woods made a barrage of birdies.

First on 10…

Then on 11…

Then again on 12…

It seemed like business as usual—Tiger tied for the lead on the back nine with all the momentum.

But Daly wasn’t having it, and on 13, while seemingly staring bogey right between the eyes, he would produce this chip for birdie out of the thick Kentucky bluegrass.

Daly would keep that advantage until the 17th hole when a costly three-putt resulted in a bogey. When both Woods and Daly parred the last, they headed into a playoff.

The Atmosphere

Sunday’s final round crowd at the 2005 WGC-American Express Championship may well have been the loudest and most excited a golf crowd has ever been.

Woods took his usual swarm of fans around TPC Harding Park that day, as did Daly, as the two biggest draws in the game of golf went head to head. 

Tiger, with that typical intensely focused look in his eyes throughout, Daly staying calm refueling himself all day with a combination of diet soda and cigarettes.

Speaking on the atmosphere that day, Woods told the New York Times

“When we were taking the carts back to the tee. I couldn’t hear anything. In my left ear, I’m half deaf, people whistling and screaming, and then my right ear, I’m half deaf.

“It was electric, it was loud, people were really into it. J.D. brings huge galleries everywhere he goes.”

The showdown clashed with the NFL that Sunday, and following his round, Daly was in no doubt where America’s eyes had been, saying

“I don’t think there are a lot of people watching NFL football right now.”

The atmosphere reached fever pitch on the first playoff hole. Stepping up onto the tee, Woods blistered a drive on an aggressive line 350 yards down the fairway.

“Oh, it’s fantastic. Oh my goodness,” said Nick Faldo.

As soon as Woods had hit his drive, Daly was ready to go. Resting his cigarette beside the tee box, the Californian then set himself, let rip, and outdrove Tiger’s ball by almost 15 yards. Mike Tirico’s excitement in the booth was evident, crying out: “He got him!”

Daly then calmly picked up his cigarette and headed down the fairway as the fans were losing their minds.

THAT Missed Putt

After both parred the first playoff hole, it was onto the par-4 16th hole that would provide for an unforgettable moment of drama.

Woods had 30-feet for birdie, Daly 15-feet.

Putting beautifully all day, Tiger struck a putt down the slope that looked for all the world to be heading into the cup.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Woods described his feelings when his putt came up agonizingly short: “I felt the tournament was over…that he’d pour it right in there.”

Daly stepped up but missed his birdie effort. Three feet remained for his par, and what followed was a shocking miss that even had Woods looking devastated for his competitor.

Speaking to the media after his round, Woods explained his bowed head reaction to Daly’s missed three-footer:

“It just felt so bad. That’s not how you’re supposed to win a golf tournament. We’re battling, and J.D. played beautifully all week. It shouldn’t end like that. 

“We should be playing 17. I was thinking I had 160 and I’m hitting a drawing 8 iron and kind of rehearsing what I have to do, and when he missed the putt, I just felt so bad because he played so solidly the entire week.”

On the infamous missed par putt, Daly would say: “It went left. I played that putt straight, and it went dead left.”

The Aftermath/Daly’s Gambling Spree

It was Woods’ sixth win in 2005, in an incredible year that included victories at both the Masters and the Open. He would go on to win a further eight times in 2006, including two more majors.

As for Daly, the now 54-year-old revealed in his 2006 autobiography “My Life In and Out of the Rough,” that directly after the event he took his runner-up check for $750,000 and drove to Las Vegas.

In Vegas, Daly sat himself down at a $5,000-per-play slot machine and lost $600,000 within half an hour. By the time he had left the casino, he was down $1.65 million. The 2004 Buick Invitational remains his last victory on the PGA Tour.

 

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. David G

    Aug 5, 2020 at 11:47 am

    OMG, There I am in the video 🙂 That was spectacular to watch in person! I’m so looking forward to this weekend at Harding Park. I miss playing that course.

  2. Skratch Golf

    Aug 4, 2020 at 6:37 pm

  3. Bill

    Aug 4, 2020 at 11:54 am

    Who takes $750k to Vegas and plays slots ?

    • Matt

      Aug 4, 2020 at 12:21 pm

      Someone with a long history of bad decisions, addiction and a complete lack of impulse control. It’s saddening to think about. We would be talking about him along side the all-time greats if he had taken care of himself at least a little bit.

      • Chaz

        Aug 4, 2020 at 7:16 pm

        I think he would have gotten more bang for his buck i he went with hookers and blow. Just as DJ

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Tiger Tuesdays

Tiger Woods’ most impressive golf accomplishment? – GolfWRXers discuss

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In our forums, our members have been delving into the best achievements of Tiger Woods’ career.

WRXer ‘Fairway14’ kicks off the thread with a poll between Tiger’s, 3 USGA Jr. Championships, 3 USGA Amateur Championships, 15 professional Major victories, and 142 consecutive cuts made – with the latter winning comfortably.

But our members have been discussing more of Tiger’s achievements which deserve to be recognized up there with any of the rest.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

  • MtlJeff: “Over time I feel like his weeks at #1 might be as impressive as anything. He has twice as much as the next closest challenger (Greg Norman)….And Norman has twice as much as HIS next closest challenger. To put that in perspective—Dustin Johnson is 3rd and would need to be #1 for roughly 11 years straight to catch Tiger.”
  • Fairway14: “I am glad to see so many votes cast for ‘142 consecutive cuts made’ because I believe the media has not given that accomplishment the appreciation and respect it is due.”
  • Creedo77: “If he wins the US Senior Open down the line, he’ll be the only player to ever win the JR AM, US AM, US Open and SR Open.”
  • iBanesto: “Easily the consecutive major wins: 2000 US Open, 2000 Open Championship, 2000 PGA Championship and 2001 Masters.”
  • physasst: “What about the 82 PGA tour victories? Tied with Sam Snead for most all time. No one else is even close…That’s the most impressive to me.”

Entire Thread: “Tiger Woods’ most impressive golf accomplishment?

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Tiger Tuesdays

Woods: ‘I rolled it great’ – Why Tiger’s assessment of his putting at the Zozo is at odds with reality

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It was another dismal week at the Zozo for Tiger Woods in what has become a truly forgettable year in the career of the 15-time major champion.

Woods finished T72 at one of his favorite courses, which included his worst round ever at Sherwood CC as well as the first time in his career that he has bogeyed three par-5s in one round.

Tiger shunned the media after day one of the championship, but took time out after Sunday’s round to assess his performance for the week, saying “I did not drive the ball and didn’t hit my irons close enough consistently”.

All of which is true, with Woods performing worse with his irons than he ever has before (where Strokes Gained stats are recorded) losing 4.4 strokes to the field for his approach play. While his driving wasn’t much better, losing 3.6 strokes to the field off the tee.

However, on his website in a piece by journalist Daniel Rapaport, Woods gave this head scratching assessment of the positive he’ll be taking from the Zozo.

“The only thing I can take out of this week that I did positively is I putted well. I feel like I rolled it great. Unfortunately, they were all—most of them were for pars and a couple for bogeys here and there, but not enough for birdies.”

Unfortunately for Tiger, that’s just not true.

For his four days at the Zozo, Woods lost over 3 strokes to the field on the greens. Of the 77 players in the field last week, Woods was 65th in putting. In what parallel universe, especially for arguably the greatest player ever, could that be considering ‘putting well’?

It was Woods’ second-worst performance on the greens since the Tour’s restart, and it’s worth a reminder that even before last week Tiger was in the midst of his worst form with the putter of his career.

The only area Woods gained strokes last week was around the green, as the 44-year-old stumbled to a Strokes Gained: Total number of -10.

Woods’ game is so far off that it’s unlikely even an appearance at next week’s Houston Open will rescue him in time for Augusta. And if finishing 65th in a 77 man field for Strokes Gained: Putting is the new normal and rolling it great, then optimism around Tiger should be tempered going into 2021.

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Tiger Tuesdays

#TigerTuesdays: How Sherwood CC served up two of Tiger Woods’ most crushing defeats

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@pgatour

Tiger Woods returns to action this week at the Zozo Championship at a course very familiar to the 15-time major champion: Sherwood Country Club just outside Thousand Oaks, California.

From 2000-2013, Woods hosted the World Challenge at Sherwood, a period in which Tiger hoisted the trophy at the event five times. However, on two occasions, Woods suffered two of the biggest shocks of his career at this event, and here we’ll take a look at how both unfolded and the impact they had on the 82-time winner on the PGA Tour.

2010 World Challenge

A year on from the sex scandal that rocked Woods’ life, the Californian returned to Sherwood CC without a win in 2010. But things looked rosy once again for Tiger, who took a four-shot lead over Graeme McDowell into the final round of the 2010 Hero World Challenge.

By the fourth hole, that lead was down to one as a nervous Woods stumbled out of the blocks, missing three putts from 6 feet in his first four holes, while McDowell birdied three of his first five holes.

The drama escalated on the back nine, when Woods, after seemingly having wrestled back the initiative, blinked. On the par five 13th hole, Woods held a one-stroke lead, before imploding to card a double bogey, to McDowell’s birdie, which left him trailing by two.

The Irishman dropped a shot at the 14th but kept a one-shot lead until the 17th hole, before pulling an eight iron into the hay forcing him to take an unplayable. Improvising, and from a very tricky spot off the green, McDowell would get the ball up and down for a brilliant bogey, while Woods saw his birdie putt slip by.

It wasn’t the two or even three shot swing Woods wanted, but it was all square heading to the last.

On 18, both men found the fairway before McDowell pulled his approach to 30-feet, which left the door open for Tiger. He did what he always seems to do in the most significant moments, stuffing his iron shot in tight.

Understandably, both Woods and his loyal fans thought he had landed the killer blow.

It looked like another fairytale finish for Woods and his first win in over 12 months, but the fresh decade appeared to bring unfamiliar misfortune for the 15-time major champ, and McDowell heaped on the misery on the 18th green.

Stunned but still battling, Woods would hole his three-footer before hitting his approach in the playoff to 10 feet after seeing McDowell pull his approach once again.

The adage that lightning doesn’t strike twice was exposed on this occasion, as McDowell pulled off the unthinkable once again. 

With the event on the line, Woods couldn’t respond, barely missing his birdie putt to end a miserable afternoon for the American.

The tournament marked the first and only time Woods has ever coughed up a four-stroke lead beginning a final round, and McDowell’s words afterwards demonstrated how his immense aura was beginning to weaken.

“He used to appear invincible. Of course, he’s made himself appear more human in the last 12 months.”

Woods went on to win the 2011 edition of the event, and win three times in 2012. Had he overcome McDowell at Sherwood and regained that winning feeling in 2010 could those wins have occurred a year earlier?

2013 World Challenge

In 2013, things were different for Woods – he was back on top of the world rankings and had won 5 times that year.

Woods entered the final round at Sherwood CC with a two-stroke lead over Zach Johnson looking to end the year on a high. By the 10th hole, Woods was four clear, a familiar position for him at the Californian course.

Tiger’s steady and conservative approach in these positions had served him well throughout his career, but what he wasn’t banking on in this position was Johnson catching fire, who birdied three of the next six holes to bring him within one of the lead heading to 17.

On the 17th, Zach went flag-hunting to the back pin location, and it paid off to ensure a dramatic and tense finish.

The 18th hole would once again play center stage, and once again, it provided an unthinkable finish. 

Woods would play his approach shot first, and it wasn’t a good one, pushing it into the front bunker. Advantage Johnson, but not for long, who inexplicably pushed his even further and into the water.

It looked to be an almost certain Woods victory at this point, but memories of 2010 would come flooding back for Tiger, who stood in the fairway as Zach struck his ‘miracle’ wedge approach for his fourth.

Despite the stunning outcome, Woods smiled it off, composed himself and hit a great shot of his own to save par and extend the contest.

However, when Tiger once again found the bunker on the first extra hole and Johnson made his par, Woods’ famous clutch gene deserted him over a 5-foot putt to extend.

The 2013 edition of the event would be the last time Woods would play in the final group in the fourth round of a tournament until he did so again at the 2018 Tour Championship.

Woods returns to Sherwood CC for the first time this week since 2013 to defend his Zozo Championship. With five wins and five runner-up finishes, incredible highs and equally crushing lows, it’s fair to say this is a course that Tiger has a more complex relationship with than most others.

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