Lesser names provide theater, too
LOS ANGELES — Tiger Woods is back among the modern stars in the game, this time with his golf clubs, still wearing more than one hat.
He is a player at the Genesis Invitational. It already has the strongest field of the year, but Woods brings a buzz that only he can generate. Never mind that he has never won at Riviera even when Woods was at the zenith of his game.
When he plays, everyone watches.
Woods also is the tournament host who hands out the trophy. For so many players who grew up idolizing him — which is practically all of them — it can make winning feel even greater than the $3.6 million payoff. “Tiger Woods is handing us a
trophy — that’s a pretty crazy thought,” Max Homa said when he won two years ago.
Equally important is the voice Woods brings to the private meetings, like the one Tuesday afternoon at Riviera, as the leading players try to map out the best way forward for the PGA Tour amid the Saudi-funded threat of LIV Golf.
Woods last showed up at an “actual PGA Tour event” — his words when he announced on Twitter he was playing at Riviera — last August in Delaware. He flew up to lead the first such meeting when the main objective was to bring golf ’s best together more often. The next step is deciding how elite these tournaments should be, not just prize money but how many players get to compete.
If he speaks from experience he would do well to mention those that illustrate what makes golf the ultimate meritocracy.
Bob May
He was the journeyman who challenged Woods in 2000. May was leading the PGA Championship by one with two to play until Woods birdied the last two holes and beat him in a threehole playoff. Woods said it was “probably one of the greatest duels I’ve ever had in my life.”
The Kiwi with one PGA win and a world ranking of No. 242 matched Woods shot for shot on the back nine in the 2000 Canadian Open. Waite trailed by one when he hit 5-iron to 40 feet for an eagle attempt on the par-5 closing hole. In one of the more famous shots of a career filled with them, Woods hit 6-iron from 218 yards out of a bunker, over the water and right at the flag to set up a two-putt birdie and another win.
Rocco Mediate
He had to go through 36-hole qualifying just to get to Torrey Pines for the 2008 U.S. Open. A five-time winner, Mediate was 45 and ranked No. 157 in the world. And then he pushed Woods to the limits, rallying from two behind in the final round to force a playoff. Mediate dressed in black pants and a red shirt — no one else is that audacious — and Woods had to go 19 holes to beat him.
There were plenty of other occasions where Woods battled the best — Ernie Els at Kapalua and Disney (yes, Disney), Phil Mickelson at Doral and Bay Hill, Vijay Singh at The Players Championship, David Duval at the Masters.
Those were the best.
But it was the rest who provided theater just as great, all because they had a tee time. That’s all anyone needs. And even as the PGA Tour works toward an elite league, it would do well to remember that.
No matter the size of the field for the elevated events in 2024 and beyond, there has to be room for players to earn a shot at the best.