They played in the snow
like kids instead of the two youngest superstars in pro golf.
When a rare rain, sleet
and hail storm hit today's final round of the Williams World Challenge -- the
first rainfall in Scottsdale in 102 days -- Tiger Woods and his pal Sergio Garcia staged a friendly snowball fight on the No. 12 hole.
"We just wanted to lighten
things up a little," said Woods, who had just finished making a double bogey
on No. 11, his third double of the round, on a day when his game turned as cold
as the weather.
Both Woods, who turned
24 on Dec. 30 and Garcia, who will be 20 on Jan. 9, played well after play resumed
following a 65-minute delay. Woods, who shot 41 on the front nine, birdied two
of the next three holes and finished with a 76.
Garcia got to 4-under for
the tournament and into third place with birdies at 13 and 14, but dropped to
fifth after taking a double-bogey six at the finishing hole, where his second
shot found the water.
Woods, who won eight PGA
Tour events last year and had earnings of $7.6 million worldwide, opened the
tournament with a 5-under 65 and was 8-under after the front nine of Saturday's
third round. It went downhill from there, with a 39 over the final nine on Saturday.
"It was just ugly," Woods
said of his play this week. "I haven't been hitting the ball that good all week
and was just kind of getting away with it. It finally caught up with me.
"I couldn't hit the ball
solid. I couldn't keep it straight enough. The more I tried to release it, the
more I seemed to hit it to the right. It was very odd."
Still, Woods didn't seem
concerned about his game as he prepares for the 2000 PGA Tour season that starts
Thursday at the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii. Instead, he wanted to talk
about the successful debut of the Williams World Challenge, an offseason event
he hosted and helped put together as a benefit for the Tiger Woods Foundation
and Payne Stewart Memorial.
"It was a great start for
the foundation and this event." he said. "From my standpoint, it was very busy.
I never thought it would be this much work. Next week, it's back down to business."
