Woods sob story in The Open
OPPOSITE the sanctimonious story of Cameron Smith’s victory in the just-ended British Open is the sob story of Tiger Woods’s debacle on the home of golf that is St. Andrews in Scotland.
Smith, 28, four shots behind the heavily favored four-time majors champion Rory Mcilroy with a round left, did the unthinkable of torching the final back-nine with six incredible birdies to win the season’s fourth and final Slam by one stroke.
The rally was triggered by a 10th-hole birdie that stretched up to the 14th, with the five consecutive birdies ranging from three to 18 feet as Smith, the Australian from Brisbane with the wispy whisker and a flowing mane of blonde, capped his breakthrough victory with breathtaking drama on the last hole.
Leading flight mate Cameron Young of the United States by two going to the 72nd, Smith stroked his approach to within an insanely gimme distance to the finishing hole to completely render meaningless Young’s eagle on the par-4 18the for a 65.
Mcilroy tried to also drive the drivable last hole, needing an eagle to tie Smith. But he fell short, settling for a two-under 70 six shots behind Smith’s gloriously bogeyfree 64 worth $2.5 million from the total pot of $14 million on golf’s grandest stage.
Amid all the drama, it was trauma wrapped all around Tiger Woods.
He bombed out with 78-75, missing the cut by nine shots.
On his first round, Woods drove the Old Course’s first hole, safely going left. But he hopped next into the famed Swilcan “burn” (canal) guarding the green.
Double bogey.*
Woods grappled next with a “cold putter” that manufactured missed putts practically all day: 78.
He’d improve with a 75 the next day but even before he could begin Day Two, Woods knew it would be next to impossible to make the cut—at even-par.
“I’d need at least a 66 tomorrow to make it to the weekend,” he said.
But this was not the man now who would produce unbelievable wonders time after time, elevating the game to heights as only the golf gods could decree. At 46, Woods is history.
Definitely, he was not your Woods of years back when, by just standing on the tee mound preparing for his first tee shot, he’d intimidate even the insects crawling on the grass nearby.
Four back surgeries and several other surgical procedures on his hips and legs had virtually crippled him. Worst, the car crash in February last year that saw him almost lose his right leg to amputation had practically—no, literally—painfully transformed him into a cruel reminder of being now a limping GWD: Golfer With Disability.
He’d be quitting soon—if he hasn’t yet—with 15 majors across his name, three short of Jack Nicklaus’s record 18.
His wish of playing at “my favorite course” that is St. Andrews had resonated during The Open week, his reason not targeting to win there a third time, which is, again, impossible as he’d be past 50 in 2027 when the Old Course gets to host it again.
“I just simply want to play here again,” implored Woods, who won at St. Andrews in 2000 at age 24 and in 2005 when he was 29. “I just love it here.”
Oldies but goldies deserve respect.
THAT’S IT Hat’s off to the Philippine Filipinas for beating powerhouse Thailand, 3-0, to win the Asean Football Federation Ladies Cup on Sunday, a first for Philippine football both in women’s and men’s play. The victory only validated our team’s deservedly achieved feat earlier when it advanced to the World Cup set next year—another first for the country. Cheers!...birthday greetings to Malaya Sol M. Sadiwa (July 21) and Sol F. Juvida (July 23), from Ricky and Aya; Dayong, Shang, Mayo, Dada and Migel; and, from your resident dishwasher. Also celebrating on July 21 is Danny “Sir John” Isla, the former Lexus Manila president who is now based in Auckland, New Zealand. Isang manipis diyan, Sir John!