Tiger Woods’ shadow larger than ever
‘I’d do the same thing. I’d go watch Tiger Woods. I was out there trying to win a golf tournament. The fact people want to go watch Tiger Woods doesn’t bother me. I don’t blame them. He’s earned that.’ Justin Thomas winner of the Honda Classic
MEXICO CITY — Tiger Woods is bigger than ever in golf, and he already was plenty big when he was winning at a rate never seen.
The Honda Classic broke its attendance record last week with a confirmed 224,624 spectators over seven days. The tournament attributed the record increase to the return of Woods and the drama of a sudden-death playoff won by Justin Thomas.
It could have stopped after Woods. Not even Thomas would argue with that.
Television ratings for the Honda Classic were up 43 percent from the previous year, when Rickie Fowler won.
No surprise there, either.
Woods no longer moves the needle in golf. He is the needle.
Even when he finishes 12th.
What made Woods so compelling at PGA National was that he was only four shots behind going into the weekend, and that on the toughest course of the season — more than a full shot harder than the next one — Woods never shot worse than 71.
He still finished eight shots behind and was never closer than four shots of the lead over the back nine. The possibilities were there, just not the performance.
Not yet, anyway.
And perhaps that’s why coverage of the Honda Classic — video, digital and print — touted results by Woods that were impressive, promising and everything in between, almost to a point that Thomas winning in clutch style was an afterthought.
Woods was pleased with how he played, all things considered, and there is a lot to consider — three back surgeries in a span of 18 months, and not knowing five months
ago if he’d ever be able to compete at a high level, and playing against a full PGA Tour field for only the third time this year.
He also knows how to keep score.
And that might explain the text message Woods sent to Thomas on Monday: “Don’t worry about it. You’re still the one holding the trophy.”
Thomas was not the least bit surprised, nor concerned, about such an intense focus on Woods.
He could hear it from the third green Sunday when he was looking over a short birdie putt and a burst of cheers came through the trees from the eighth green where Woods made birdie.
The walk to the fourth tee goes across the tee box at No. 9, where Woods had just teed off. The gallery with Woods — perhaps four times the size that was following the last group — stretched all the way to the clubhouse. Thomas couldn’t help but notice of his fans peel off to watch Woods. Why not? “I’d do the same thing,” he said. “I’d go watch Tiger Woods. I was out there trying to win a golf tournament. The fact people want to go watch Tiger Woods doesn’t bother me. I don’t blame them. He’s earned that.”