Who can be the Tiger Woods of NASCAR?
Tiger Woods gave golf a much-needed boost with his run at the PGA Championship last week.
It helped put the sport back on the national stage.
NASCAR feels it had a similar moment when Chase Elliott finally won his first race earlier this month at Watkins Glen.
“That really was a big moment,” said Kurt Busch, among a few drivers on hand for a tire test at Texas Motor Speedway recently.
“It’s nice to see the kid win and put it all together for a full race. It was overdue. We know he’s got the talent. He’s got the pedigree. He’s with a great team. A story like him is our main guy.”
Yes, Elliott’s breakthrough win should have been the story everyone was talking about. This is a driver who has been billed as “The Next Big Thing” in recent years.
His father is Hall of Fame
NASCAR MOVES UP START TIME AT BRISTOL
NASCAR has moved the start of tonight’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway up one hour because of threats of rain.
The start is now scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET, which is 60 minutes earlier than planned.
NASCAR also moved the start of Friday night’s Xfinity Series race up by 15 minutes.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS driver Bill Elliott. He replaced Jeff Gordon in the famed No. 24 car in his first full-time Cup season. But he didn’t visit Victory Lane until his 99th career Cup race.
Oh, and NASCAR couldn’t even get out of its own way to let Elliott enjoy the head- lines. The sanctioning body’s CEO and chairman, Brian France, stole them away when he was arrested on charges of aggravated driving while intoxicated and criminal pos- session of a controlled substance hours after Elliott won in New York.
On a conference call with reporters from across the country a couple days later, the second question to Elliott focused on France.
But the sport’s hope is that Elliott eventually develops into a big-time personality. Winning, of course, is the only way that will happen for Elliott or any other budding driver such as Ryan Blaney or Bubba Wallace.
“If they start collecting wins, that’s going to help the sport just like with Tiger Woods,” said Busch, the 2004 series champion who is in his 18th full-time season in NASCAR.
“It’s the sentimental value of coming back after some difficulties and putting on that Tiger-esque run. I think these kids who are coming up now need a couple more wins here or there, and it’s going to blossom from there.”
NASCAR is in desperate need of those drivers to become superstars, especially after so many big names have left the sport in recent years.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick ranked among the most popular and wellknown drivers who are no longer competing.
Monster Energy has agreed to be the Cup series’ title sponsor through the 2019 season, but that partnership is expected to end after that. The $8.2 billion, 10-year TV contract with NBC and FOX isn’t up until 2024, but the next round of TV talks isn’t too far off.
NASCAR needs to find itself a Tiger Woods sooner than later.
Tiger Woods once ST. LOUIS — said it could not be considered a truly great year without winning a major.
Five years ago, he never would have said it could be a good year without winning any tournament.
This year is an exception. Woods closed with a 64 on Sunday at Bellerive, his lowest final round in a major. He finished at 266, breaking by three shots his personal best over 72 holes in a major. Nei- ther was enough to win the PGA Championship.
His last major was 10 years ago. His last victory of any variety was five years ago. It’s still been a good year. Sixteen months ago, he announced his fourth back surgery in three years, the last one to fuse his lower spine. Ten months ago, doctors still had not given him clearance to swing a club. Eight months ago, he was No. 656 in the world rank- ing, one spot behind Lucas Nemecz of Austria. Now he’s No. 26, one spot behind Sergio Garcia.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to play golf again,” Woods said. “It’s been a hell of a process, for sure.”
The majors are over. The season is not.
With his runner-up finish, Woods moved to No. 20 in the FedEx Cup. That assures him three FedEx Cup playoff events, and a reasonable chance to return to East Lake for the Tour Championship. For now, they are little more than opportunities.
Because while this year of the comeback has been nothing short of remarkable, two elements are missing. He still hasn’t won. And he has yet to start the final round with at least a share of the lead.
Considering his reputation and record as golf ’s greatest closer, those two might go hand-in-hand.
The PGA Championship was another example that while Woods remains larger than life to the fans, it isn’t enough to shake the players he is trying to beat. That’s not to suggest anyone ever gave Woods his 14 majors. It just seemed that way because he was winning so many of them. No one is going to give him any now.
The ro a rs were never louder than when he hooked a 9-iron off the muddied, trampled grass on No. 9 and made birdie, except maybe for his approach into the 15th that plopped down a foot from the cup, bringing him within one shot of the lead.
Brooks Koepka never got rattled.
“You could hear a different roar every 30 seconds,” Koepka said. “So we knew what was going on. It’s pretty obvious when Tiger makes a birdie.”
Koepka, playing two groups behind Woods, missed three straight birdie putts from 10 feet or closer when Woods was making his last run. And then he poured in two in a row, the last one from 7 feet after the prettiest 4-iron he ever hit.
Francesco Molinari had it even tougher.
He was playing alongside Woods in the final round at Carnoustie when Woods took the lead for two holes, only to fall back with a double bogey on the 11th hole. Molinari forged through the noise without a bogey and won the British Open by two shots. The Italian became only the second player to win a major while paired with Woods in the final round. The other was Y.E. Yang in the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine, the only times Woods lost a 54-hole lead in a major.
Close calls at Carnoustie and Bellerive should at least be a reminder Woods has never won a major when trailing going into the final round. He won all 14 of them from either the lead or a share of the lead, and his closing rate on the PGA Tour is astounding.
Woods is 43-2 when has the lead going into Sunday, and his record is 11-2 when he is tied for the lead.
Now he just has to get there.
He is good enough to win. That should no longer be up for debate.
Whether he still has that mystique is still to be determined. That starts with him being the hunted, and not the other way around.
Even in the best of times, Woods never charged his way to victory in a major. He started five shots behind at Hazeltine in the 2002 PGA Championship and birdied his last four holes, only for Rich Beem to make a 35-foot birdie on the 16th for some breathing room. Woods trailed at the Masters and U.S. Open in 2007 and quickly got into a tie for the lead, only to fade by not making enough putts.
Give him the lead, give him the crowd, give him the opportunity, and Woods got it done with a rate never seen in golf.
That will be the next step, maybe the final step to see if that red shirt on Sunday still means something.