Mark Calcavecchia was halfway up a mountain in Arizona when he stopped to text Tiger Woods.
"Hiking a mountain. May die."
Within minutes, he got a reply from Woods.
"You must be on the Plantation Course."
The 47-year-old Calcavecchia was only preparing for the Plantation Course at Kapalua, site of the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. He isn't known for a strict workout routine -- or any workout routine, for that matter -- but Calcavecchia decided to prepare for the rugged terrain of West Maui by climbing the South Mountain in Phoenix.
"I hiked it three times last week, just to brace myself for up here a little bit," he said.
Part of that was from experience. The last time Calcavecchia played at Kapalua, he showed up with rust and rubbery legs and spent four days walking up and down the hilly fairways. When he got to the California desert for the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he hurt so much that he had an MRI on his right knee to make sure he had not injured something.
"Walking this course took a toll on me, so I wanted to be a little bit better prepared," he said.
The climb was about 45 minutes and comes with a view of downtown Phoenix and a race track. And then comes the hike down, which Calcavecchia said was no picnic, either.
"I've slipped a few times, and you can kind of hurt yourself if you're not careful," he said.
How that preparation pays off is yet to be determined. Players are allowed to ride in carts through the pro-am Wednesday until the tournament begins.
This wasn't the first time Calcavecchia exchanged a text with Woods around this time of the season. Two years ago, when Woods skipped the season-opener for the first time when not injured, Calcavecchia's text thanked him for staying home.
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