Tiger Woods stared down the fairway on the 518m 16th hole at Whistling Straits, with Lake Michigan looming large on the left. He looked over his shoulder at Ernie Els, who was 18m behind him and waiting for the green to clear on the par-3 12th hole, which hugs the right side of the lake.
It was a fitting scene Tuesday morning at the PGA Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
Woods and Els -- No. 1 and No. 2 in the world -- were standing on the same tee box, headed in opposite directions.
The majors used to be Woods' private domain. He won seven out of 11 through the 2002 US Open to build such a huge lead that it looked like he would never lose his No. 1 ranking.
Woods comes into the PGA Championship having gone nine consecutive majors without winning, and he could lose his No. 1 ranking for the first time in five years.
"It's never easy to win a major championship," Woods said. "I think all of you guys realize that now."
At the other end of the spectrum is Els, who has finished in the top 10 in his last four majors and was on the cusp of winning the first three this year. He arrived at Whistling Straits with his third chance at a major this year to replace Woods at No. 1, needing at least a runner-up finish at the PGA.
"I've got to try and play as well as I can and take care of this week and see what happens after that," Els said. "But it will be great."
Woods hammered his drive down the right side of the 16th fairway. Els hit a crisp 7-iron just over a knobby bunker to within 4.5m of the pin at No. 12.
Then, they walked to the back of the tee to shake hands and get down to business.
"What the hell do you do on No. 11?" Els asked him. "Go for the green in two?"
No matter where they are in the world ranking and what they've done in the majors, everyone faces the same dilemma this week at the longest course at 6,838m in major championship history.
Every player is trying to figure out how to navigate Whistling Straits in wind that can blow so hard that Woods and Els both ripped drivers on No. 18 -- a 455m par 4 -- and still needed a 3-wood to reach the green.
For Woods, this could be the ultimate test.
One reason his game has slipped to a mortal level this year is his driving. He is 167th on the PGA Tour in driving accuracy, his lowest ranking since turning pro eight years ago.
Whistling Straits is no place to keep the driver in the bag.
"Considering most of the par 4s are nearly 500 yards [455m], yeah," Woods said when asked if he would use his driver more at the PGA Championship than he did the other three majors. "The par 5s are about 600 yards [545m]. I might use it on a couple of par 3s, as well. The golf course is set up [where] you can use driver quite a bit."
Woods switched to a new driver in early July with a large club head (410cc) with a graphite shaft, and he has been pleased with the results. In fact, Woods is hard-pressed to find much wrong with his game, except the number of trophies (one) on his mantle.
He has had chances to win his last three tournaments, and settled for top 10s in all of them, including a tie for ninth last month in the British Open.
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