Forget Nicklaus' record, McIlroy just wants to win again

ST. LOUIS, Missouri - Seven years after being hailed by one of his peers as the man to challenge Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles, Rory McIlroy remains stuck on four and running out of time in his quest to get anywhere near the Golden Bear's mark.

McIlroy blew away the field for his first major win at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, after which his potential was hailed by fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington.

"If you are going to talk about someone challenging Jack's record there's your man," said Harrington at the time.

"Winning majors at 22 with his talent -- he would have 20 more years, so probably 100 more majors in him where he could be competitive. It would give him a great chance."

McIlroy for a while lived up to the billing, quickly racking up his second, third and fourth major titles by the end of 2014, but he has spun his wheels since and comes into this week's PGA Championship at Bellerive on a 15-major drought.

At 29, time is still on his side to reach double-digit major wins, but Nicklaus's record seems firmly out of reach, and McIlroy arrives at this week's PGA Championship if not entirely an after-thought, then not exactly the centre of attention.

"From 2014 I've given myself some half chances at majors," McIlroy said on Tuesday, slipping easily into soccer vernacular.

"The last time I won a major in 2014 at Valhalla, that's one of the best times I swung the club and I'm trying to get back to (that)."

LITTLE STEP

McIlroy has had a chance in two majors this year. Second starting the final round at the Masters, he faded to finish equal fifth, while his late charge at the British Open earned a tie for second, his first career runner-up finish in a major.

"I've played in a lot of final groups and haven't played well enough when it's counted," he bluntly acknowledged.

"That's something I'm trying to figure out, what I need to do to make that little step from contending to lifting trophies."

McIlroy has fallen well behind the pace set by Nicklaus, who won seven majors before his 28th birthday.

European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn reckons the victory floodgates could open for McIlroy at any time.

"You go through spells where you don't quite get over the line but he's still contending every week and I admire his patience and the way he goes about it," Bjorn said.

"He is such quality and I think he's in a place where it's going to go 'boom' and then he's going to start winning a lot of tournaments.

"When he wins that one I think he'll just start rolling again. As a guy who's played golf since I was three years old, I'll pay money to go and watch him."

(Reporting by Andrew Both; Editing by Ken Ferris)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Police: Woods was asleep at wheel, passed breath test

MIAMI -- Tiger Woods was found asleep at the wheel of his car when he was arrested, police records showed Tuesday as golf legend Jack Nicklaus pledged support for the troubled former world number one.

Woods, who issued a statement on Monday saying alcohol was not involved in the incident, needed to be woken by a police officer, his arrest report showed.

The 14-time major winner has blamed the DUI arrest near his home in Jupiter, Florida on an adverse reaction to prescription medication.

His police report, obtained and published by several media outlets, said Woods was "co-operative" and "confused" when found by police, with "extremely slow and slurred speech."

He initially told officers he had been driving back to Florida from Los Angeles but later stated "he did not know where he was."

The golfer was unable to complete various roadside sobriety tests which included standing on one leg and the "walk and turn" test.

However contrary to reports on Monday which said Woods refused a breathalyzer test, the golfer agreed and "blew zeroes" indicating there was no alcohol in his system.

Woods also told police he had been using four prescription medications including the powerful painkiller Vicodin, which is commonly prescribed following surgery.

Woods has undergone four separate surgeries on his back since 2014, with the most recent procedure taking place in late April.

News of the 41-year-old's arrest has triggered alarm throughout the golfing world. On Tuesday, Nicklaus offered words of support for Woods.

"Tiger's a friend," Nicklaus told the Golf Channel. "He's been great for the game of golf. He needs our help.

"I feel bad for him. He's struggling ... He needs support from a lot of people. I'll be one of them."

A police mugshot of Woods looking bleary-eyed and unshaven rapidly went viral after its release on Monday, underscoring the fall from grace of the superstar athlete once renowned as a clean-living, corporate pitchman.

"I would like to apologize with all my heart to my family, friends and the fans. I expect more from myself too," Woods said in a statement issued late Monday.

   
'He needs our help'

The arrest is the latest gloomy episode to hit the athlete, who once towered over his sport before being engulfed by turmoil in his private life and a series of debilitating injuries.

His return from a year-long injury layoff was cut short in February when he pulled out of the Dubai Desert Classic after the first round because of back pain.

News of Woods' arrest was pored over in detail by US media on Tuesday, with many commentators unable to resist comparing the golfer's dishevelled mugshot with images of the fresh-faced superstar in his heyday.

"What happened to the young man we all thought we knew...Where has he gone?" asked USA Today columnist Christine Brennan, contrasting the mugshot with an image of Woods from one of his most famous victories, winning the Masters in 1997 at the age of 21.

"What a stunning contrast these two photos are, taken 20 years and seven weeks apart," Brennan added. "They chart the rise and fall of a man who had it all, then watched it crumble away, all of it self-induced."

ESPN writer Jason Sobel commented that the mugshot "offers tangible representation" of Woods' decline in fortunes.

"It offers visual proof of the news, of another public embarrassment," Sobel wrote.

"There is no positive way to spin this story. No silver lining, no beneficial after-effects that might spring from it -- the main takeaway here is sadness. Just pure sadness."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Woods still dreams of eclipsing Nicklaus' major record

Tiger Woods says he still believes he will surpass the record 18 major titles won by Jack Nicklaus, even though the former world number one has been sidelined from competition for more than a year due to a chronic back injury.

Now aged 40, Woods is in the twilight of his golfing career and has been stalled on 14 major victories since his remarkable triumph at the 2008 U.S. Open but he expressed confidence about his playing future in a Public Broadcasting Service interview.

According to an excerpt of an interview with television talk show host Charlie Rose, which will be aired in full later on Thursday, when asked if he believed he would end up with more than 18 major titles, Woods replied: "Correct".

When Rose followed up with: "And if you don't, you will say?", Woods responded: "I didn't get there."

Earlier in his one-on-one conversation with Rose, Woods had been playful with some of his responses.

When Rose initially asked him if he thought he would get 18 major wins, Woods replied: "To be honest with you, no."

But when Rose said: "You've accepted that?", Woods replied with a laugh: "I've accepted I'm going to get more (than 18)."

The interview, which was taped on Wednesday, marked the first comments made by Woods since he announced his withdrawal from the PGA Tour's Safeway Open in northern California nine days earlier.

Woods had been hoping to make his tournament comeback after 14 months out following back surgeries, but in a surprise U-turn he said that his game was not sharp enough for him to compete in the Oct. 13-16 event in Napa.

Woods also told Rose that he hopes to make his competitive return at the Tiger Woods Foundation-run Hero World Challenge in Albany (Bahamas) from Dec. 1-4.

"You know, I miss being out there," said Woods. "I miss competing. I miss mixing it up with the boys and coming down the stretch."

Woods has not played on the PGA Tour since August 2015, having undergone surgeries in September and again in October of that year due to ongoing back problems. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Tiger turns 40, still three wins shy of Snead's 82

As Tiger Woods celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday, he must be struck by the fact that time stands still for no one and he will face a different golfing landscape when, or if, he returns to competition in 2016.

Less than two years ago, and even as recently as last year, many Tiger fans still eagerly anticipated the day when, so they thought, he would match the record of 18 major championship victories held by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods had won five PGA Tour events in 2013 and, though major silverware had eluded him since 2008, there seemed no reason why he could not add to his haul of 14 majors as long as he stayed healthy.


But everything changed in 2014 when, crippled by back pain that forced him out of a tournament in Florida, he underwent back surgery in the form of a microdiscectomy. He has never been the same since.

Two further back surgeries later, expectations these days about the former world number one are much more muted.

Instead of discussion about whether Woods will win four or five more majors, talk has turned to whether he will even win another regular tournament, let alone one of the big four.

No longer is winning the 'be all and end all'. Having a healthy body is priority number one.

"Even if I don't come back and I don't play again, I still want to have a quality of life with my kids. I started to lose that with the other surgeries," Woods told Time magazine in early December.

"(Not being able to play again is) not what I want to have happen and it's not what I'm planning on having happen, but if it does, it does. I've reconciled myself to it."

Father Time catches up with everyone.

Dating back to 1965, players aged 40 or older have won only 18 of the 204 majors played, a winning rate of less than nine percent.

The reason is open for debate. Do the players' physical skills decline, or does mental baggage finally take a toll on their confidence? Is it a combination of both?

TOO MUCH STRENGTH TRAINING

Sports science expert Vern McMillan believes many golfers do not train appropriately, focusing too much on strength training instead of maintaining their fluid movement patterns.

"These guys get stuck on power and lifting weights and the body loses the ability to move because they don't spend the time on improving their body's ability to move," McMillan, who has worked with several leading golfers, told Reuters.

Woods is renowned for his love of weight training. But did that focus do him more harm than good?

Perhaps a more realistic target for Woods than adding to his major haul is the record number of 82 PGA Tour victories set by Sam Snead. Woods is three shy of that mark.

He showed in contending at the Wyndham Championship in August that he can still be competitive, but there is a huge difference between being competitive and dominating.

It is a matter of semantics to debate whether Woods or Nicklaus is the greatest player ever. Some people choose Woods, saying his best golf was superior to Nicklaus's, but the Golden Bear showed greater durability for the long haul.

Nicklaus clinched his 16th and 17th majors at the age of 40, before adding an 18th at the age of 46.

The only player other than Nicklaus to win multiple majors in his 40s since 1965 was Mark O'Meara, who won twice at the age of 41.

Nicklaus recently told Reuters he still thought Woods had a chance of matching his major record, but what else could he say? Had he written off Woods, he might have come across as arrogant.

It is too early to assign the moniker of "ceremonial golfer" on Woods, but that time may not be far away if his back does not properly heal.

In accepting a role as an assistant captain to Davis Love III on next year's United States Ryder Cup team, Woods may be ready to move onto a new phase of his life ... maybe.

Just a couple of weeks after saying he was "reconciled" to the possibility of not playing at a high level again, Woods struck a different tone.

"Physically, sometimes I feel old and sometimes I feel like a teenager," he wrote last week in a blog on the PGA Tour's website. "I don't like the polar opposites of the two. I'd like to be somewhere in the middle where I feel 40.

"Where do I see myself in the next five to 10 years? I am still playing golf at the highest level and winning tournaments and major championships."

Realistic comments, or a pipe dream laid out by somebody trying to come to terms with his physical limitations? Only time will tell.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Struggling Tiger says encouraged by progession in swing

Even after posting the worst 72-hole total of his PGA Tour career at last week's Memorial Tournament, Tiger Woods says he has been encouraged by the progress he has made with his revamped golf swing.

The former world number one signed off with a two-over-par 74 at Muirfield Village on Sunday, a day after struggling to a career-worst 85 in the prestigious event hosted by Jack Nicklaus.

Woods has 10 days until the opening round of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay in Washington State but he firmly believes that is enough time to complete his preparations for the year's second major.

"There's plenty of time," Woods told reporters on Monday in a satellite teleconference from his home in Jupiter, Florida.

"I needed tournament golf and it was nice to have Memorial in there and to be able to play a golf course that's that difficult, that hard, that demanding from tee to green."

Woods, who was speaking on media day for the PGA Tour's Quicken Loans National which he hosts, is still adapting to the fifth swing change of his professional career, this time with consultant Chris Como.

"I've had times like this in my life where I've gone through these periods, but you just have to fight through it," said the 39-year-old American, who has played just five tournaments this season.

"I'm committed to what I'm doing and committed to the changes. Once I start to snowball and start getting more solidified, then that's when things start coming together."

Woods, who finished last at the Memorial Tournament with a 14-over total of 302, said the work on his swing continued to be a progression of "baseline shifts" to build up his game.

"You just don't go from one to 10," said Woods, who claimed the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 U.S. Open. "We're taking it one, two, three, four ... making baseline shifts, that's what Chris and I were just calling it.

"I'm very proud of the fact that I stuck with my game plan ... and I was finally able to hit the shots on Sunday that we've been looking for.

"At one point I got it to three under par and lost it coming home, but I showed signs of what we're working on was starting to come together, and that was pretty exciting to see."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Tiger Woods looks to his youth for swing answers

Tiger Woods pronounced himself fit for a return to competitive golf while acknowledging the ravages of age on Tuesday as he prepared to tee it up for the first time in nearly four months at the Hero World Challenge tournament.

Woods' quest to surpass Jack Nicklaus' record haul of 18 majors has been stalled at 14 since 2008 after a string of injuries and personal problems sent him off track.

Having not played since the PGA Championship in August, the 38-year-old American returns to action on Thursday near his Florida home at the at Isleworth Golf and Country Club in a tournament benefiting his foundation.

All eyes will be on a creaky back that limited Woods to just eight events last season where he missed the cut twice and withdrew from two others.

The former-world number one underwent back surgery in March and despite long periods of rest and rehabilitation never returned to full fitness missing the Masters and U.S. Open, withdrawing from the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and missing the cut at the PGA Championship.

"I'm older," Woods said drawing laughs from reporters at a news conference on Tuesday. "Father Time is undefeated.

"We all eventually are losing some of the things we are able to do when we were younger."

This was no capitulation, just an acknowledgement from Woods that he needed to try another way, and returns having switched to consultant Chris Como from swing coach Sean Foley.

"We all have to make adaptations as athletes, and we have to make adjustments," said Woods, who believes he has more winning golf ahead of him.

"Like MJ (Michael Jordan) created a fade away. He couldn't jump over everybody anymore, and he created a new way to score and get points.

"I'm the same way. I can't blow it out there with some of the longer guys anymore.

"Back when I was younger, a long ball was 290 (yards) in the air. Now it's 320, 325. I don't have that."

Woods said his aging body would not allow him to fire from positions Foley wanted to put into his swing.

Fans and fellow golfers will get their first look at Woods revamped swing on Thursday when he partners with Australian Jason Day in the 18-player invitational.

"We looked at a lot of video from when I was a junior and in amateur golf," said Woods about time spent with Como. "It was quite interesting to see where my swing was then and how much force I could generate with a very skinny frame.

"That's kind of what we are getting back into.

"It feels great. It feels fantastic."

(Writing by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by Steve Keating.)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com