1992-93: The Prep Year In Review : The Tiger Reigns in World of Prep Golf

The memories from a high school sports season are limited only by the number of people taking it all in. The members of The Times Orange County prep sports staff have provided the commentaries on these two pages about the people, events and issues that made the greatestimpression on them in the last 10 months.

Tiger Woods plays golf in a variety of competitive worlds.

There’s the PGA Tour, where Woods, 17 and a junior at Western High School, already has played in four tournaments. There are the amateur tournaments he is concentrating on this summer as he tries to play his way onto the U.S. Walker Cup team, and junior events, which he has dominated for the last several years.

Then there’s high school golf.

I’ve seen Woods perform in two of these milieus--I’m paid to follow his prep exploits and I paid to see him play at the Los Angeles Open in February--and I’m left with some vivid impressions.

The gulf between high school and professional golf is great, but Woods bridges the gap with aplomb. From the way he handles questions from the press to the way he handles pressure putts, Woods’ demeanor rarely varies.

Sure, he seems to be more at ease while representing his high school. Maybe it’s because he considers prep golf a break from the grind of his other schedule. Maybe it’s because of the camaraderie of his peers who don’t seem to mind that they rarely beat him.

After the most recent beating--Woods won his second Southern Section individual title in three tries, shooting a four-under-par 68 at Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs--some of his competitors made a show of bowing to him as if he were royalty.

Woods certainly doesn’t reign at the L.A. Open--he missed the cut for the second consecutive year--but he was among the most watched players. Playing with, and often outdriving, John Elliott and Rick Dalpos, two fringe Tour members, Woods drew a gallery as large as the one following John Daly.

It wasn’t the best of days for Woods--he was six-over after 14 holes--but those who stayed with him were rewarded as he birdied the next three holes and then finished with a par-saving, 50-foot putt on 18.

On the 18th green, with the ball about 10 feet from the hole during its second break, Woods started raising his arms triumphantly. When the ball dropped into the hole, the crowd roared and Woods beamed.

Such moments come once in a lifetime, if ever, for most golfers, but I suspect Woods will have many that surpass it, regardless of whether he becomes a successful Tour member.

If that day comes, he’ll be able to look back on an apprenticeship that few other professional athletes experience. He could make millions.

I have some rich memories.