Tiger Woods' streak of consecutive
PGA Tour victories ended at six in San Diego. Another streak ended in Germany
when, for the first time in 16 tournaments worldwide, Woods failed to win after
having at least a share of the 54-hole lead.
OK, he's human.
But with each tournament,
Woods creeps closer to a record that has stood for more than 50 years -- Byron
Nelson's streak of 113 tour events without missing the cut.
Woods is not even halfway
there -- 48 going into the Memorial. But considering he has missed only one true
cut in his career, the only thing that figures to stop him is injury.
If Woods were to keep pace
with his current schedule -- and continue to make the cut -- he would tie Nelson's
mark around the 2003 U.S. Open.
The ``cut watch'' has been
issued twice this year. Woods was on the bubble on the back nine of the Buick
Invitational, squeezed in and had a share of the lead Sunday before finishing
second to Phil Mickelson.
He was on the cut line again
two week ago in the Nelson Classic, made it with three strokes to spare, then
went 67-63 on the weekend and finished one stroke out of a playoff.
Woods never paid too much
attention to the winning streak because a) it spanned two seasons and b) he failed
to win a European tour event during that stretch.
Why is this streak so special?
``It means that even when
you're playing bad, you're still fighting and you have the mental tenacity to
hang in there on those bad days and get it around where you make cuts,'' Woods
said. ``I'm not going to dog it out there. That's just not my style.''
Woods counts his streak
at 52, dating to the 1997 Canadian Open in Montreal, the only 36-hole cut he
missed. The PGA Tour's number of 48 dates to Pebble Beach in 1998, where Woods
withdrew instead of returning seven months later in August to complete 54 holes.
Woods was at 4-over 148
after two rounds and would have needed a 65 to make the cut.
STEWART TRIBUTE
The Golf Channel will kick
off its U.S. Open coverage with an original biography on the life and career
of Payne Stewart.
``Payne Stewart: An Original
Golf Channel Production,'' has been given exclusive authority by the Stewart
family and is being produced in cooperation with his widow. It will include never-before-aired
home video and photos.
Tracey Stewart will share
her memories, and Stewart's mother also will be interviewed.
``What already would have
been an extremely emotional project is being made even more so because we have
such close access to family and friends,'' said Jay Kossoff, senior producer
of The Golf Channel.
Other highlights in the
documentary include Stewart's caddie, Mike Hicks, taking viewers through the
final six holes of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, which Stewart won by one
stroke over Phil Mickelson.
Stewart and five others
were killed Oct. 25 in a plane crash.
RYDER 2009
A move is under way to
bring the Ryder Cup to Scotland for only the second time in history, and that
could mean pressure-packed matches on the toughest links golf course in the world.
``Carnoustie is very much
under consideration,'' said Sandy Jones, chief executive of the PGA of Great
Britain. ``It was tough for the (British) Open last year. The preparation of
the course had absolutely nothing to do with how we would view Carnoustie as
a contender for the Ryder Cup.''
The other five Scottish
courses on the short list are St. Andrews, Turnberry, Loch Lomond and Gleneagles.
The PGA of Great Britain is also considering Slaley Hall and Wynyard Hall in
northeast England, and Celtic Manor in Wales.
Jones said a decision is
expected at the 2001 Ryder Cup.
PAR 3 CONTEST
Mike Langella, a 26-year-old
glue salesman from New Jersey, is about to embark on the ultimate Par 3 Contest.
Starting May 30 in Phoenix,
Langella will play one par 3 in all the 48 continental states plus the District
of Columbia, finishing up his ``round'' June 14 at Lincoln Park in San Francisco.
Langella will travel 12,000
miles in an RV, and will play some holes in the middle of the night to finish
in 15 days.
The event is sponsored by
Chipshot.com, which will donate $1,000 for every birdie, $250 for every par and
$1 million for a hole-in-one. Also, Chipshot.com will donate 10 percent of sales
of its Tour Series line of clubs sold during 15 days.
Proceeds will be split between
The First Tee and Prevent Blindness America. Langella's father suffers from Macular
Degeneration, a disease that eventually will make him blind.
``If I can make some low
numbers out there and help these charities, it will be the best Father's Day
present I could ever give my dad,'' Langella said.
DIVOTS
While most of the country
is gearing up for golf, Augusta National closed Sunday until mid-October. ...
The USGA has received a record 3,007 entries for the U.S. Senior Open at Saucon
Valley in Bethlehem, Pa., up from 2,850 a year ago. Seventy-two players are exempt
from qualifying. ... Davis Love III is 1-6 in playoffs after the Byron Nelson
Classic. It could be worse. Two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw has never
won a playoff in eight tries. ... Meg Mallon made 16 birdies last week on the
LPGA Tour, giving her 39 for the month of May. Her counterpart in the American
Stroke Challenge, Corey Pavin, missed the cut in the Nelson Classic and Colonial
while making only eight birdies. The Memorial is his last tournament of May.
Bayer Aspirin isdonating $1,500 for each birdie they make to the American Stroke
Association.
STAT OF THE WEEK
Seven players have won
tournaments in which Tiger Woods has finished in the top five over the past year.
None of those winners is lowerthan No. 14 in the world ranking.
FINAL WORD
``I've hit a lot of people,
but I've never hit anyone and drawn blood. It happened to be a lady, which makes
it even worse. I'd rather hit her boyfriend or husband at 6-foot-4.'' -- Fred
Couples, who hit a woman in the gallery during the Colonial.
