World No. 1 Tiger Woods knows all too well that his seven-event win streak in US PGA sanctioned events faces its sternest test at the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship.
The 64-man showdown started in Arizona yesterday with overall top seed Woods squaring up against fellow American JJ Henry. Woods won twice in seven tries at the event when it was played at La Costa, but must now try to conquer his foes on Dove Mountain.
"This has always been one of the tougher events to win, because of the nature of the format," Woods said.
"You have to beat one guy at a time, six guys [in all] to win the championship. It's always tougher to continue at Match Play because all it takes is one hot guy. In stroke play, you can have an off day and still win," he said.
While Woods has made an amazing run in US PGA events, three shy of the tour record streak set in 1945 by Byron Nelson, he quickly notes his defeats during that span in four European Tour events.
"I've done a lot of losing too. I lost at the Match Play [at Wentworth], lost in China, lost in Japan," Woods said, citing last year's defeats.
That streak grew earlier this month when he finished third at the Dubai Desert Classic.
Woods has known Henry, his Ryder Cup teammate last year, since their amateur days.
"He hit the ball beautifully during that Ryder Cup and I thought handled himself extremely well, given that was his first time in a Ryder Cup and it was over in Europe," Woods said. "He had a lot of guts coming down 18."
Players will be forced to hit shots at this course they are not often asked to attempt during usual PGA events, Woods said.
"When the wind blows here, there's nothing to stop [the ball], so that's the trickiest thing," Woods said. "Here, there are so many options around the greens, you're going to see a lot of different shots."
Other first-round pairings in the US$8 million event include Ireland's Padraig Harrington going against England's Lee Westwood in another matchup of Ryder Cup colleagues, this time from the winning European side.
"It doesn't really matter who you play," Westwood said. "If my opponent was from Mars, I would treat it the same. You just try to play well and hope he doesn't play better."
Harrington comes off a disappointing final round at Los Angeles last Sunday, when he began one stroke off the lead but faded to seventh.
A seven-year-old horse had to be euthanized on Friday after breaking its back on the final fence of a Grand National steeplechase race that it won despite sustaining the serious injury. It follows the death of four horses at the Cheltenham Festival last month — including one after the prestigious Gold Cup. Gold Dancer was competing in the Mildmay Novices’ Chase during Ladies Day at Aintree’s Grand National Festival. The horse managed to cross the finish line approximately four lengths ahead of runner-up Regent’s Stroll. “The winner of our second race of the day, Gold Dancer, was pulled up after
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
RSS