Can Tiger Come Out to Play?

By THOMAS BONK

May 29, 2003 12 AM PT

We haven’t seen much of him since the Masters, except for the tournament he played in Germany two weeks ago, so it’s probably a good time to catch up with Tiger Woods.

He filmed some commercials, he telephoned Annika Sorenstam a few times, he played a practice round at Olympia Fields with somebody named Michael Jordan, he is using a different golf ball, he’s going to be using a new driver, he says he can still win the money title and he’s going to cut back on his tournament schedule to keep himself fresh.

Let’s start first with the last. Less of Tiger isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially if you happen to be a tournament director or PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem, who knows Tiger couldn’t be more responsible for driving the television ratings if Nielsen was his caddie.

Judging by how often he plays, Woods doesn’t seem overworked. If he cut back on his schedule any more, he’d be retired. Last year, Tiger played a grand total of 24 tournaments, but that includes such outings as the New Zealand Open, the Deutsche Bank--SAP Open in Germany, the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan, the PGA Grand Slam in Hawaii, the Skins Game in Indio and his own tournament in Thousand Oaks. His passport saw some action, all right.

By the way, Tiger won seven times worldwide and made $8.4 million last year. The Memorial will be his eighth tournament this year ... and he won three of the first four, of course.

But there’s no getting around the fact that Memorial may be an important week for Tiger. It should be a good gauge as to how he’s playing, whether he’ll be ready for the U.S. Open that’s only two weeks away, if he’s satisfied with his equipment and how the rest of his year will shape up.

So far, none of it is clear. That’s why the Memorial will be Tiger’s test, because he owns Muirfield Village Golf Club -- even if it does say Jack Nicklaus on most of the papers. Woods has won three of the last four times at Muirfield, which makes it an Ohio version of Bay Hill, where he has won four in a row. He also owns that place -- even if it does say Arnold Palmer on most of the papers.

One way to look at Woods’ performances this year is that he has won on courses he either knows well or wins regularly. Torrey Pines. La Costa. Bay Hill. Augusta National? Take away his double bogey at the third hole Sunday at the Masters and chances are he would have been trying to find room in his closet for his fourth green jacket. Or at least been a factor. Instead, he tied for 15th.

Then, two weeks ago in Germany, he was 27th and complained about the greens. That’s not unusual. It’s typical Tiger to say things would have been different if the ball rolled better for him. What was unusual was the fact that during the last round, Woods didn’t use his Nike prototype driver, but a TaylorMade R510. You can still hear the sound of nervous teeth chattering in Nike headquarters.

Woods, who tried out a new prototype Nike ball in Germany, said he was just testing the rival equipment, which he says he does regularly. It has been a chore for Nike to find a driver that Tiger’s comfortable with, and Phil Mickelson’s comments about “inferior equipment” didn’t help, but at least Nike is doing all it can to put the best equipment in the hands of the best player in the world.

Notoriously choosy about his equipment, Woods is apparently planning to use another Nike forged titanium prototype driver at Memorial, one with a slightly larger club head.

It’s an ongoing process, but so is Tiger’s challenge at the tee. Who would have guessed that there are nine PGA Tour pros with drives averaging more than 300 yards and that Tiger isn’t one of them? He’s tied for 47th, averaging 290.8 yards.

Distance isn’t a big deal for Woods, who can reach back for more any time he wants, but his driving accuracy has disappointed him. He ranks 132nd in fairways hit, which means he has hit only 62% of fairways this year.

So how do we know how well Woods will perform when the U.S. Open is played at a course that hasn’t hosted the event since 1928?

If we’ve been paying attention, we know that Woods always has had the ability to turn it on quickly. That makes this week at Muirfield Village as good a time as any.

This Week

*--* PGA TOUR The Memorial

*--*

When: Today-Sunday.

Where: Muirfield Village Golf Club (7,265 yards, par 72); Dublin, Ohio.

Purse: $5 million. Winner’s share: $700,000.

TV: ESPN (today-Friday, 1-4 p.m.) and Channel 2 (Saturday, noon-3 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.).

2002 winner: Jim Furyk.

Next week: FBR Capital Open in Potomac, Md.

*--* LPGA TOUR Kellogg-Keebler Classic

*--*

When: Friday-Sunday.