Nick Rodger on Tuesday
Next outing will provide measuring stick for Woods’ progress
CONTRARY to what that picture byline up there portrays – a torturedlooking man with the doom- laden rictus of someone who’s just stubbed their toe on a gravestone – I do lead a relatively cheery and varied lifestyle and don’t just emerge from a crypt once a week to write a column.
The other day, for instance, I was manning a stall at a lavish Christmas market in Hopetoun House and attempting to convince shuffling swarms of seasoned festive fair- goers to part with their cash and buy some winter wares.
“What will you take off for cash?” asked one hard- bitten haggler as she poked, prodded and perused said items while gently caressing her duelling scar. “Everything but my semmit and long johns,” I replied with a whimper of desperation. It was at that point I realised I should probably return to my crypt and stick to doing the column.
Talking of market forces, golf’s biggest draw, Tiger Woods, is back in action this week. Or at least he was when your correspondent originally sent this back page meander yesterday afternoon only to have my evening well and truly scuppered at about 8pm last night when news filtered through that he had withdrawn from his own Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. Hearing your phone go “ping” and seeing a message from the sports desk that says “you’ll have to re- write your column” tends to be about as uplifting as reading an eviction notice.
Woods hadn’t played competitively since he made a tear- stained, cap- waving hirple up the 18th fairway of the Old Course at July’s Open Championship. In the luxury getaway of Albany this week, the 15- times major champion, who has managed just nine rounds in 2022, was all set to headline a relaxed, no- cut coming together of 20 top class campaigners.
To be honest, you’d probably get more cut- throat, competitive edge in the elbowing and jockeying around the artisan glass trinkets and Christmas fudge stalls at that aforementioned market than at this
week’s golfing affair. The outing, however, was going to be another measuring stick for Tiger’s progress as he continues his recovery from those ravaging injuries he suffered in that shattering car crash. Now, we’re left with yet more questions than answers although Woods will presumably answer some of those questions at a media Q& A today.
According to reports last night, Woods has been laid low by Plantar Fasciitis, which sounds a bit like a combative midfielder who’s been starring in the World Cup. This Plantar thingamabob is actually an
inflammation of the band of tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes and makes it excruciating to walk. You can add it to the vast dossier of injuries and ailments that Woods has endured down the years. The golf writers are now so well versed in various medical terms we could probably write a column of authority in the bloomin’ Lancet.
As he approaches his 47th birthday, Woods was poised to finish the year with three events in a row, albeit ones far removed from the rigours of the championship golf he put himself through at The Masters, an aborted
US PGA and an emotional Open. He may have to settle for hosting duties this week but Woods is still confident of pegging it up in the made- for- TV, jolly jaunt of The Match next week before joining forces with his son, Charlie, for the PNC Championship.
That final event, all being well, will no doubt feature unhinged, at times disturbing, levels of attention as all and sundry focus in on Charlie’s golfing development. There’s no denying that the boy has talent and inevitably there have been wild predictions about the 13- year- old being a future major champion.
Given his tender years, the Tiger cub is still playing golf with an innocent joie de vivre but the weight of expectation from outside will continue to grow as he matures.
AND ANOTHER THING
Sandy Jones, who has sadly passed away, was a mighty figure in the world of golf. Starting off as the regional secretary of the Scottish PGA back in 1980, the proud Lanarkshire man would go on to become the chief executive of The PGA itself, a post he would hold for 25 years.
Always keen for a blether, and never short of an opinion, Jones would furnish the Scottish press corps with plenty of lively material. Those PR folk charged with maintaining the official PGA party line were certainly kept on their toes by his frank, spontaneous admissions.
There were plenty of anecdotes, too, from a fulfilling career in the game he loved. “I was refereeing a Seve [ Ballesteros] match at a Ryder Cup,” Jones once said. “After shaking hands on the first tee, Seve said ‘ are you the best referee in the world?’. I just ignored it but he kept on asking. Eventually I said, ‘ well, Seve, I think you’re the best player in the world so they wouldn’t put the worst referee in the world out with you’.
“He shook my hand and said, ‘ you’ll do for me’. He was great.”
It seems golf is not ready to let go of Woods yet. Tiger, of course, is not ready to let go of golf yet either
Martin Hannan