Tiger inspired by NFL hero in bid to ‘shut everybody up’
PEYTON MANNING might not know it, surrounded as he is by all the hype and hoopla that comes with being one of the key figures in the Super Bowl this Sunday, but halfway around the world at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic he is an inspirational figure to none other than Tiger Woods. Manning has come back from injury to lead Denver Broncos into America’s showpiece event. Woods loves the quarterback’s style. ‘Let’s be honest, Peyton got scrutinised pretty hard when he left the Indianapolis Colts, that he would never be the same after his neck surgery,’ explained the world No 1. ‘And it’s right, he’s not the same. He’s better. That’s cool. It’s cool to see the hard work that he put in to shut everybody up.’ With that, Woods left no-one in any doubt he is hell-bent on doing the same. For aren’t there similarities in the way Woods has fought back from injury but will have the critics carping until he ends his six-year major drought? Johnny Miller, the 1973 US Open winner, opines if Woods doesn’t win the Masters in April it will act ‘like a great big uh-oh for Tiger for the rest of the season’. You can see Woods is fed up with it all. Five wins, a return to world No 1 and chosen by his peers as player of the year: is that really so bad a season at 37? As well as Augusta, Woods has won at Hoylake and Valhalla, host venues for The Open and US PGA Championship respectively. The US Open is at Pinehurst, where he finished third in 1999 and second in 2005. He said: ‘It’s just about being patient, putting myself there and giving myself chances. I’m not going to win every year. And this year we’ve got four venues I’ve played well at. Three I’ve won at and one I’m trending the right way.’ Rory McIlroy is thrilled to be playing with Woods to enliven the feeling of teeing off at 8.05am on a Thursday. But what he wants is to play alongside Tiger in the final group on a Sunday. He said: ‘It was that way against Adam (Scott) at the Australian Open at the end of last year. But doing so against Tiger would be the ultimate test. He’s arguably the greatest player the game has seen.’