Golden Years

Let’s catch up with Tiger Woods.

His face was pictured on the cover of Time magazine. His face was also pictured on billboards along Interstate 75 for last week’s tournament in suburban Detroit. His face is pictured on boxes of Wheaties, in TV ads for Buick and in print ads for everything from watches to video games to laser eye surgery to apparel to credit cards.

Face it, it’s a look worth millions.

How much would another major title be worth? We may find out beginning today, when the 82nd PGA Championship starts at Valhalla Golf Club here in the land of bluegrass and racehorses.

The last time Woods played in the PGA Championship, he won it, and there’s nothing unusual about that. Woods has won 21 times in less than four full years on the PGA Tour, six times since January, two of them majors.

Somehow, he failed to win the Masters, where Vijay Singh came through and thus became the only player other than Woods to have won a major since last August, when Woods made another lasting impression at the PGA Championship at Medinah, outside Chicago.

As is his habit, Woods is chasing history. The only person to win three majors in one year was Ben Hogan, who won the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open in 1953.

The most recent Woods ledger shows this: 1999 PGA champion, 2000 U.S. Open champion, 2000 British Open champion.

The 2000 PGA champion?

Listen to what Ernie Els says: “Everybody has got to play four good rounds, and if he plays four mediocre rounds, we have got a very good horse race.”

In Woods’ repertoire of majors, he has won the Masters by 12 shots, the U.S. Open by 15 and the British Open by eight. He has played 14 PGA Tour events this year and won six. Since May 1999, he has won 15 of his last 28 tournaments worldwide.

Woods could scarcely be more confident, a state of mind that is entirely understandable, considering the way things have been going for him. At the Buick Open, Woods said his game was right where he wanted it.

“I don’t need to make any major changes going into [the PGA],” he said.

In fact, about the only major change that would help Woods is to wear blinders to protect himself from all the camera flashes during practice rounds.

Said Woods: “It’s like playing in lightning.”

Having to compete against Woods is hearing his thunder. Els won the International at Castle Rock, Colo., where Woods did not play, and Els immediately turned to Woods.

“I wonder if he was watching,” Els said. “Yeah, let’s try to make it a good horse race next time at Valhalla. We will see how it will go.”

Let’s see, all right. Els remains one of the few who feel no huge weight because of Woods’ presence. Certainly there are others in the group, but the Woods fear factor is a prominent force nonetheless. Even Woods recognizes at least part of it.

“I guess the only way to ever increase the intimidation factor, if it does exist, is to win tournaments,” he said. “Simple as that. If you don’t win, if you are there every time finishing second really doesn’t mean much. Or finishing third, top five. You’ve got to win. And, fortunately enough, I have won my share of tournaments.”

Woods says one of the reasons for his success is that he understands his priorities.

“For me, it is winning majors,” he said.

Then you would have to say that Woods has had his priorities in order lately.

Maybe Els doesn’t know it, but Woods was not watching the International. He was relaxing in the Bahamas.

“He was busy being a non-golfer for a couple of days,” said Mark Steinberg of IMG, his agent.

In the meantime, Woods the golfer continues to expand his money-making horizons.

Woods makes news off the course as easily as he dominates golf tournaments.

Any day now, his new contract extension with Nike will be final. The deal will cover five more years and rework the existing year on the contract he signed in August 1996. While neither Steinberg nor Bob Wood, president of Nike Golf, would comment on the numbers, insiders say the total value of the new agreement is about $80 million.

Woods’ 1996 deal with Nike was $40 million for five years.

“All the material terms have been agreed upon,” Nike Golf’s Wood said. “They’re just dealing in lawyer language stuff.

“As far as I’m concerned, he’s going to be playing the senior tour with Nike,” he said.

In Wood’s opinion, Tiger is closing in on Michael Jordan’s status in his prime as a worldwide brand, if he’s not there already.

“As far as his visibility worldwide, he’s probably greater than Jordan because he is playing a sport that is more accessible and relevant worldwide than basketball,” Wood said. “And Tiger’s multicultural background, he has the potential to be more well known than Michael Jordan ever was, if you want to talk about sheer numbers of people.

“Tiger is definitely in that zone.”

It’s an expanding zone. Forbes reported that Woods’ total compensation, including endorsements, was $47 million in 1999. It’s expected to pass $50 million this year, and experts say it’s only going up.

“When all is said and done, before he’s 30 years old, he’ll be close to $100 million a year,” said Michael Bernacchi, a business marketing professor at Detroit Mercy.

While Woods is busily making money for himself, he is also churning up dollars for many others. For instance, the PGA of America is getting swept along nicely in Woods’ draft.

All 33,000 tickets for each day of play at Valhalla were sold out in June.

Corporate hospitality was sold out a year ago. All 35 corporate chalets were sold out at $165,000 each. All 80 corporate tables, at 10 seats a table, were sold out at $20,000 each.

In addition, the PGA added a second merchandise tent, a second premium seating Wanamaker Club and a jumbo video screen near the driving range, complete with headsets.

There will be no shortage of media looking after Woods. A record 1,000 credentials have been issued, and there is simply no room for more.

No one at the PGA wants to say it, but the people in the blue blazers were happy Woods won last year at Medinah. Woods had a five-shot lead with seven holes to go, but wound up winning by only one shot over Sergio Garcia.

It wasn’t over until Woods steered a difficult eight-foot par putt into the hole at No. 17 and then tapped in a short par putt at the 18th.

“I had to dig deep,” Woods said. “The gallery was getting on me. They wanted to see Sergio win the tournament. I had to block that out. It took a lot of mental discipline to step up there and bury that putt on 17 with all the things going on.

“[I] reached for the strength from inside, that is one of the reasons I was so relieved at the end because it just mentally took so much out of me.”

It would be hard to argue that Woods isn’t at the top of his game, as the PGA tees it up today. Off the course, his millions are mounting. On the course, he is undisputed champion. About the only troublesome spot is an ongoing dispute with the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists over his taping a Buick commercial during a strike.

Last week, the union had called Woods to a trial board hearing in Los Angeles on Friday, which is the day of the second round of the PGA, of course.

Woods knows the best way to deal with anything is to stay focused and to do what he does best, which is to play golf. Right now, that remains unchanged, he said.

“I am focused on how to get the ball in the hole as fast as I can,” Woods said.

Nobody can do it any better. If things go well this week at Valhalla, more money will roll in and his fame will grow. You will see Tiger’s face even more places. He already is weighing offers from all the late-night talk shows and another to host “Saturday Night Live.” There’s just one problem with that gig: Tiger is clearly ready for prime time.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TIGER WOODS IN 2000

April 9: Finished fifth in the Masters

June 18: Won U.S. Open at Pebble Beach

July 23: Won British Open at St. Andrews

Aug. 17-20: To defend PGA Championship at Valhalla

Overall: Has won six of 14 tournaments, $5,792,821

Woods in 2000

* PGA Tour events played: 14

* Victories: Six (Mercedes Championships, Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, Bay Hill Invitational, the Memorial, U.S. Open, British Open)

* Cuts made: 14. * Top-10 finishes: 11

* Rounds played: 52. * Rounds under par: 45

* Rounds in the 60s: 31. * 2000 earnings: $5,774,421

*--*

Tournament Par Round Scores Total Winnings Finish Mercedes 73 71-66-71-68-276 16-under $522,000 1st Championships Pebble Beach 72 68-73-68-64-273 15-under $720,000 1st National Pro-Am Buick Invitational 72 71-68-67-68-274 14-under $264,000 T2nd Nissan Open 71 68-70-69-72-279 5-under $37,731 T18th World Golf Record: 5-1 $500,000 2nd Championships Bay Hill 72 69-64-67-70-270 18-under $540,000 1st Invitational The Players 72 71-71-66-71-279 9-under $648,000 2nd Championship The Masters 72 75-72-68-69-284 4-under $165,600 5th Byron Nelson Classic 70 73-67-67-63-270 10-under $176,000 T4th The Memorial 72 71-63-65-70-269 19-under $558,000 1st U.S. Open 71 65-69-71-67-272 12-under $800,000 1st Western Open 72 70-69-70-72-281 7-under $26,700 T23rd British Open 72 67-66-67-69-269 19-under $759,150 1st Buick Open 72 70-70-67-68-275 13-under $57,240 T11th

*--*

WOODS IN MAJORS

In winning all four of golf’s major championships for a career Grand Slam, Tiger Woods has broken or matched numerous records. Here are some of the more significant marks he achieved in winning the 1997 Masters, the 1999 PGA Championship and the 2000 U.S. and British Opens:

* Only the fifth player in history to win all four majors, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.

* Youngest to win career Grand Slam (24 years 7 months), supplanting Nicklaus (26 years, 6 months at 1966 British Open).

* Youngest to win four major titles.

* First since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three titles in a span of four major tournaments.

* First since Nicklaus in 1972 to hold three of the four titles at the same time.

* First since Tom Watson (1982) to win U.S. and British Opens in same year.

* First since Nick Price (1994) to win consecutive major championships.

SCORING

* His 19-under-par total in British Open at St. Andrews broke major championship record for lowest score in relation to par (previous was 18-under, set by Nick Faldo at the 1990 British Open and matched by Woods at the 1997 Masters).

* Joined Greg Norman (1993) and Nick Price (1994) as only British Open champions to shoot all four rounds in the 60s.

* His 272 total (65-69-71-67) at Pebble Beach matched U.S. Open 72-hole record (Jack Nicklaus in 1980, Lee Janzen in 1993; both at Baltusrol).

* Set U.S. Open record for lowest score in relation to par, 12 under.

* His 15-stroke margin of victory broke the major championship record (surpassing 13-stroke margin by Old Tom Morris in 1862 British Open and 11-stroke margin by Willie Smith in 1899 U.S. Open).

* He set U.S. Open records for largest leads after 36 holes (6 strokes) and 54 holes (10 strokes); also matched largest lead in a major championship after 54 holes (set by Henry Cotton in 1934 British Open)

* Became only fifth player to lead U.S. Open from start to finish without being tied; had lowest score in three of the four rounds.

* Became youngest Masters champion (21 years, three months, 14 days) and first major champion of African or Asian heritage.

* Set Masters 72-hole scoring record with a total of 270 (70-66-65-69).

* Set Masters record with 12-stroke victory margin.

* Set numerous other Masters scoring records (many relating to age)

OTHER MARKS

* Became the first to win U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur titles.

* Victory in U.S. Open gave him most victories (20) among active players on U.S. PGA Tour.