Tiger determined to remain on top
Between Annika Sorenstam accepting an invitation to play in a US Tour event, Phil Mickelson sparking off about Tiger Woods and Woods himself coming back from injury to show Ernie Els, in spite of all his unbelievable early form, that he isn't prepared to hand over his mantle of world number one for a long time to come, it certainly is a fascinating scene.
Annika Sorenstam is cleary an awesome golfer, arguably one of the finest ever produced by the women's game, but you wonder if she was wise to accept an invitation to compete in the PGA Colonial in Texas in May. She will play off the same tees as the men on fearsomely fast greens and equally treacherous pin positions. Probably watching his words extra carefully after earlier much publicised gaffes, Phil Mickelson predicted that she could make a top twenty finish. If she does, it will be a staggering performance and surely lead to several other similar invitations to lady golfers.
Adopting a more conservative approach, however, I go along with sceptics like Mark O'Meara and Tiger Woods when they question the wisdom of the move. As Tiger pointed out: "It will only be great for the women's game if she plays well. If she goes out and puts up two high scores, then I don't think it is going to be".
You know, there are times when Woods can be a real pain in the neck and there are times when you would like to rush up and clap him on the back, that is, if you could get anywhere near him. Certainly, I gave him three cheers for the manner in which he handled Mickelson's unforgivably cheap remarks about Tiger and his playing equipment and also for staying silent when golf's greatest self promoter, Butch Harmon, was blowing off his mouth about how he and the game's greatest were back again as an item.
Woods has been known to call Mickelson "Phyllis" from time to time and the name seemed apt after this most recent spat. "He hates that I can fly it past him now", crowed the left hander. "He has a faster swing speed than I do but he has inferior equipment. Tiger is the only player good enough to overcome the equipment he's stuck with".
It could be argued that this was a backhanded compliment by Mickelson and that anyway he was only reacting to a suggestion from his golf club sponsors, Titleist, that he should have a go at Nike, who are threatening their place in the market because of Woods's exploits. Those closer to the scene, however, know full well that there's more to it than that. When Hal Sutton was asked prior to the Ryder Cup what he believed Curtis Strange's fourball and foursome pairings might be, he retorted: "I don't know except that Phil and Tiger won't be together".
You see, their rivalry has gone beyond the customary limits. Envy and jealousy have overtaken the situation and you have little doubt as to who carries the most liability for this.
"We all know Phil can be a smart aleck at times", says Woods. "This is just one of these cases where it has backfired on him. I really don't worry about players or what they think. The real measuring stick is how much you win and that is what drives me to compete at such a high level."
And he then forcibly drove the point home in San Diego on Sunday when he ran away with the Buick Invitational in his first outing back after undergoing knee surgery. He won by four shots and outscored playing partner Mickelson 68 to 72. Perhaps "Phyllis" will keep his mouth shut from now on and certainly there was no sign of any of his drives flying past those of Woods. Nor was there any show of warmth in their customary handshake on the final green.
Woods dismissed his latest masterpiece it was his 11th tour victory by at least four strokes by lightly commenting: "I was just getting back into the competitive spirit". How that pithy remark must have hurt Mickelson to the core! Nevertheless, Tiger must now be conscious of Ernie Els' feat in winning five tournaments out of six and shooting an incredible 29 under par total for a ten shot victory in Perth on Sunday. Perhaps even Tiger couldn't cope with that kind of stuff and at long last he now has a serious rival for world supremacy. Els has raised the bar and left us all to wonder how Woods will respond. Everything points to a memorable 2003 season as these genuine superstars jockey for the top spot.
And then there's the Butch Harmon scene. He has been informing his Sky Sports listeners about the things he and Tiger have been working on but Woods himself is staying silent. The truth is Woods did spend a week recently in Las Vegas, where Harmon lives, and the pair talked. But there was no bona fide lesson and the word is that Mark O'Meara, his close friend, is the man Tiger turns to when in need of advice.
Not that Harmon, who gushes forth week-in, week-out, with pious platitudes on just about every golfing matter imaginable, will see it like that. He is where he is today largely because of his association with Woods and no matter how much the world number one tries to break the umbilical cord, Butch is having none of it. He's clinging on like a limpet and becoming more and more unlikeable if, indeed, that was possible!
