» TIGER SEEKS RECORD 83RD WIN IN SAN DIEGO
SAN DIEGO — Farmers Insurance Open CEO Marty Gorsich has to think about it, even if Tiger Woods chooses not to.
If Woods were to get into serious contention this weekend and have a shot to become the all-time wins leader on the PGA Tour, Gorsich’s world would be turned upside down.
Consider, Gorsich says, the powerful people and celebrities who know and love Woods and want to say they were standing behind the South Course 18th green when he secured win No. 83 to break a tie with Sam Snead.
Believe Gorsich when he says that behind the scenes there has been more than the usual craziness that accompanies the arrival of Tiger’s circus.
“As we talk about what we could anticipate that day, and some of the people who feel they need to be here and experience it at the last minute, it goes all the way to the top of the food chain,” Gorsich said.
He held his breath for a short beat. “That includes our own president,” Gorsch said. “That includes past presidents.”
It is a tournament director’s greatest dream or worst nightmare.
“I don’t think it’s caught on to people what this moment could be,” Gorsich said. “I think you’ll start to see CBS build on it. I think you’ll see the internet build on it. I don’t think people would fully realize the magnitude unless he shoots lights out on Thursday or Friday.
“The Masters snuck up on everybody. His 82nd win overseas (in Japan) snuck up. This is not going to sneak up on people.”
That is all fantasy and speculation, of course, and considering Woods picked up his golf clubs one time — on his birthday to play with his son — from the end of his triumphant Presidents Cup in mid-December to early January, any expectations that he could manhandle Torrey Pines and a stellar field for a victory here should be seriously tempered.
As CBS golf analyst Nick Faldo said on a conference call last week, referring to Woods’ 2019 victories in the Masters and Zozo Championship, and his 3-0 record in the
Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, “He’s only good with minimal rough and pine trees left and right . ... I want to see how he plays when he’s got some thick rough.”
Woods, whose last stroke-play tournament round came on Dec. 7 in the unofficial Hero World Challenge, in which he finished solo fourth, is no doubt wondering the same thing. Any thought of his next victory is obscured by the everyday effort it takes for him to simply be ready to play.
“I have to think about all the things I need to do to win a golf tournament,” Woods said in his press conference on Tuesday. “There’s so many different shots I have to play, and strategy, and thinking my way around the golf course, that I’m consumed by that.”
Asked if he’d considered the scenario painted by Gorsich, of celebrities and dignitaries flocking to soak up history, Woods smiled broadly and said, “Let’s just get there first, OK?”
For everyone else around golf, to consider Woods’ 83rd win is to savor the possibilities.
Jim Nantz, CBS’s golf anchor, recounted last week that he was walking into an NFL stadium to broadcast a game on the Sunday that Woods won Zozo, and somebody asked him if he was disappointed to not call No. 82.
“My knee-jerk reaction was, we’ll be happy to call number 83,” Nantz said. “Whenever it happens, it’s going to be a great moment in the game.”
While Torrey Pines, where Woods has eight pro victories, would be a wholly fitting venue for the milestone, Nantz concocted a potentially juicier scenario: In three weeks’ time in the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles — the site of Woods’ PGA Tour debut as a teen, and where he’s never won as a pro.
Gorsich said he has joked with his counterparts for the Genesis on who wants the honor.
“To have it happen in L.A. would be on a whole other level,” Gorsich said.
While some record chases in sports have captured the public’s attention for weeks or months, Woods’ climb toward 83 has been a simmering buildup, while seemingly always overshadowed by his quest to reach Jack Nicklaus’ mark of 18 major victories.