Quick Roundup: Zach Johnson Edges Tiger In Sherwood Finale
Doug Ferguson recounts a wild finish at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge that saw Zach Johnson overcome a four shot deficit with eight holes to go, highlighted by a dramatic hole out.
The win moves Johnson to No. 9 in the world. After the round Johnson described the shot that set up the hole out: his drop-kick almost-shank into Sherwood's 18th hole pond.
Q. What did you think walking back to the drop area had to happen for you to be sitting here today?
ZACH JOHNSON: Well, I was upset. You know, I mean I had I don't want to say an awkward yardage, but I had‑‑ I was in between clubs. And certainly saw his shot. You know, very hard shot. End up in the bunker down there. I assumed it was in the bunker and then when I walked up there it was. It looked to me like it was going to be a very, very difficult 4 for him. So once my ball was in the hazard, my whole process was just, I mean I'm trying to get somewhat around the hole and make a 5. You know, it wasn't exactly a full‑wedge shot, but it was one that I could be aggressive with. And 58 yards, trying to hit it about 52, 53, and we saw what it did.
Shouldn't have been in that position, but I'll learn from it. I didn't complete my back swing on my second shot, and as a result, miss‑hit it and everything. It was just bad. Just bad. (Laughs). I mean that was the worst shot I hit all day. Wasn't even close to being‑‑ there was no question. It was probably the worst I hit all week.
Q. Keep going.
ZACH JOHNSON: Worst shot I've hit in a long time.
Bob Harig says the takeaway for Tiger was improved driving heading into 2014.
Perhaps more important is that he seems to have found a driver and a shaft he likes. Although he was not as strong off the tee Sunday, Woods hit 75 percent of his fairways for the week and 81 percent of the greens. That will always be a strong combination.
"I'm very pleased to find something off the tee there," he said. "The shaft has definitely made a big difference. Putting comes and goes. It is what it is. You have your good days and your bad days. Friday I made everything and a couple of these days I made a lot of midrange putts for pars. Today was one of those days where I just didn't make a lot."
More alarming though was his putting. It didn't take more than a casual observer to notice that Woods looked horribly uncomfortable over the ball Sunday. Woods explained it was a battle all week, even when with a 62 in it. Jason Sobel reports what Woods said:
“I was struggling blocking putts, and today was a perfect example of that,” he explained. “I blocked a lot of putts today and just had a tough time finding my release point, and I just could not find my release point, no matter what I tried to do to adjust and just wasn't there.
“So the last hole, you know, being left‑to‑right and just didn't want to block that one, and I didn't. I over‑released it.”
Weekends are still an issue for Woods as well, something Brandel Chamblee pointed out after Saturday's 72, and something John Strege notes was a positive sign for those worried that Chamblee would change his style.
Chamblee, meanwhile, is still employed and still opining on Woods. When Tiger followed a round of 62 on Friday with a 72 on Saturday, Chamblee said, "Thursday and Friday he is one of the best, but on the weekend you scratch your head. Yesterday he had the read and the speed on the greens. He was clinical when the rest of the field was doubtful. Today [Saturday] was a different Tiger Woods. The golf course was certainly playing harder today, but he is not the same guy on Saturday and Sunday that he is on Thursday and Friday."
For its part, Golf Channel included the quote in an email, a welcome development that suggests it hasn't muffled him.
Steve DiMeglio noted Tiger's comments following the round about the final Sherwood stop for the World Challenge.
Another change in 2014 will be the site of the World Challenge. After 14 years, the tournament is heading east to Florida. The event has raised $25 million for Woods' foundation and was instrumental in building a learning center in Anaheim. Woods has donated his winnings from the tournament, more than $9 million, to the foundation.
"It is pretty sad to leave Sherwood, because there are so many great memories for me," Woods said. "This was the last (place) my dad ever got a chance to watch me play live, and this event had always had special meaning for me and my father."
Woods's mother, Tida, was on hand to watch the finale.
The YouTube highlights from PGA Tour Entertainment.
Sunday, December 8, 2013 at 10:47 PM
Reader Comments (44)
In this case, Tiger's 70 was his second best round of the week. He played about the same on Sunday, Saturday, and Thursday (gasp not a weekend). Actually those three days he played about how he did last year. Friday was the aberration.
The fair(er) criticism might have been his preparation, for all the talk about how much this tournament means to Tiger (and it does mean a lot to him), he said on Wednesday he hadn't played/practiced since Turkey, and he did the same thing last year too. Instead on Weds, right after Tiger said he hadn't prepared, we got Arron Oberholser telling us how Tiger was going to contend because he always prepares.
Tiger didn't look comfortable with his putting all week, he blew several short ones on Thursday as well. Maybe it's a rust thing, maybe it's something else. Most guys on the weeks they aren't with their putting we don't see them near the top of a leader board.
Caught the last few holes of the tourney and would agree considering the month.
Zachs hole out is what the networks want to have happen in a mid summer tourney.
Tigers 7 iron fade into the green was the nail in the coffin.
I could not judge the distance between Z and T but when the announcer said that Zach hit a 9 I was surprised by the two club disparity.
Did I see correctly - is Tiger now putting with left hand low ?
Blueboard in 3 wood, Blueboard in driver, Duh! and Double Duh!! Glad to see Tiger getting some club fitting advice.
Woods saw ZJ nearly hole out on 16,17, and then 18-bingo.... he had reason to look concerned.
I'm not sure a specific reason has been given, but there are a few we can guess at:
-Getting close to holidays, players would prefer to be close to home in Florida.
-Tax implications. This could be it, but because of the abuse Phil took when talking about the tax situation in Cali, Tiger stays quiet on the subject.
-Been offered a better deal in terms of cost for hosting the tournament.
-Islesworth is where is used to practice on a daily basis, wants to give himself more of a home field advantage.
Watching him Sunday, I was most aware that there walked a man who had learned the hardest lesson in his life -- that he was no longer going to be capable of escaping any and all difficulties thrown into his path. And it wasn't the sad Foley wipe into the bunker on the playoff hole that showed that. It was the look of the Tiger when he stepped into the bunker on the 72nd hole -- after Zack had holed out the dagger -- and the Tiger in him resurfaced for a moment as he saw an opportunity for a truly Tiger-esque finish in which he'd hole out the bunker shot for the crowd that had just witnessed Johnson's wedge. He thought he had it, too, after he hit the shot. But it only rolled close. That was when I saw the look of recognition on his face. He knew he had missed his opportunity. And the playoff hole served only to validate what he knew -- that this was how 2013 was going to end -- close, but no cigar.
It was a bittersweet farewell to the lot of us who have walked with him at Sherwood before a California Christmas for all those years. But I found myself appreciating every minute of it. Truly sorry to see this tourney go.
Isleworth, sponsor.
Tourney moved.
They are still looking for a title sponsor.
Great break ZJ received when ball disappeared on #18. He is a like a little bulldog when he gets near the lead. Tough competitor. TW's swing and tempo changed from Friday's "He's back" round.
@ D. Maculata "His "It is what it is" cliche fits perfectly without the need to go leather couch on this." +1
@RLL "hearing the old Tiger concussion" +1 that is the shot he can't hit when the heat is on. He does not hit the rising draw when the heat is applied. He goes back to the block/ cut "swipe"....See his approach shot to the #18 green in playoff...block/ cut swing with ball below is feet. Does not like to fully release and let the left forearm supinate to square the clubhead. Thus, the block / cut, hold-the-release swipe.
BTW, TW had no putting "problems" on Friday when a lot of people thought he "was back"! Like his ball striking, there are great days, there are good days, and then there a weekends! Hey, he only won 5 times this year, so it is not exactly like he fell off the face of the earth. It was a silly season, means little or nothing exhibition that he failed to capture. Don't put too much emphasis on this event.
I watched the last few holes and never had the feeling that Tiger would close it out, but also wasn't sure ZtJ (Zach the Journeyman) would pull it out either. I just didn't know who would win, which made it compelling to watch. Good for TV, for sure. Like others have said, Tiger's putting is gradually deserting him and is going to put more and more pressure on hitting it closer and closer on his approach shots. Tough.
1. I have followed this event since Greg Norman first went there in the early 90's. The different clubs they now use due to equipment and the ball is amazing.
2. It is not a great course. The 18th is a bit strange and you don't realize how much they are hitting downhill on TV on their 2nd shots. The 16th hole is dreadful and Zach understands that and plays conservatively there. The 14th and 15th have seldom proved to be fun holes to watch.
3. Why did Ferguson on his AP story make such a big deal about traffic after the event? It ended suddenly in a dramatic fashion, everyone left at the same time, it is SoCal, traffic is king there.
4. Steve Sands set it up for Tiger in the post tournament TV interview to say something nice about the event, the volunteers, etc. and all he said was "he was trying to win," and with his B game he almost did.
5. Pretty good stuff and a beautiful setting for TV in December. The lighting was great with the sun out. Still it is far from a great course. Florida in December? It won't have as good a "look" on TV.
I caught the journeyman comment as well.
By the way, on an earlier thread I made a shinebox comment and you didn't pick up on it. I'm a little hurt.
@Lynne: the light in that valley in December is always a thing of beauty to behold. I agree, golf on tv will miss it. (As will I when I'd get calls from slush jumping friends back east hissing at me for living out here in it... <g> ) Yeah, you can call the tourney an exhibition, or whatever, but it was a good one, high quality, and Sherwood gave it a quality that watching the same group knock it around in FL won't have, IMO.
Tax issues.
Player proximity issues.
Weather issues.
But then: "It is pretty sad to leave Sherwood, because there are so many great memories for me," Woods said. "This was the last (place) my dad ever got a chance to watch me play live, and this event had always had special meaning for me and my father."
Oh boo hoo. Really? Then why move it? TW certainly has the final say as to where the exhibition was played for fourteen years but NOW he's all sad about uprooting the event? And how about Steve Sands, setting up Woody with all the "emotional" questions about "saying goodbye."
A limited-field, no-cut cash-grab moves from one tony private layout to another. Ho effing hum.
I see you have caught the Christmas Spirit! Bah-humbug!
Sorry, I have been pre-occupied writing and proofing a final exam for the students. That time of year! But like Ky said, I saw it and laughed out as well. Your original still belongs in the Shackland Hall of Fame list of comments!
Ky - yeah, I do hope Mr. Lynch is one of the top 9 editors of our current time in order to call out Zach as a journeyman. However, I presume Mr. Lynch knows a lot about golf, as opposed to Zach.
I also enjoyed watching Zach "The Journeyman" Johnson upending the top ranked player of the world the last hour of play. The fact that a short-knocking Journeyman can win there is reason enough to keep it on the rotation in my opinion. And the Lord might've been walking with Zach Sunday afternoon, but last I checked - the Lord wasn't swinging the clubs.
I've read this site at times, partly because it used to be somewhat informational, especially
when it focuses on Architecture related issues.
It has since, moved towards sensationalism, and a Tiger centric mode.
I still come in and lurk off and on, I guess like a guy that watches replays of F1 and Nascar wrecks.
I tend towards defending guys I used to play with. The players I know, acted differently with me than most
of what a see posted in here. Changing anyone's belief is futile, including mine most times. But.
I think it's interesting, when it comes to Tiger, that most will vehemently rip him, largely due to not acting in
what the perceived ideals of the game are, as well as a living up to his self promoted image.
I've seen called all manners of vile things in this forum.
I've read about players being blasted for their religious beliefs.
I've seen posters on both sides of most debates, treated despicably.
I think it's funny to watch so many (not all) self righteously "defending the game", while in many
ways behaving in a manner completely the opposite expected in a "gentleman's" game.
But, like any other forum these days, I am correct if I agree with you, but intellectually intolerant if I don't.
I'll go back to waiting for the next, multi-car pileup that creates more "visits"
To watch the preening announcers and the haughty middling players and insufferable stars (save a precious and obvious few) is a different world from the solitary, ball-banging range moments and amiable competition which is my golf existence. I am guilty of seeding this site with at-times provocative comments, meant in most part to lodge an uncivil protest against the current state of things. Best,
hack
“We have had 10 great years hosting our own Tavistock Cup golf tournament, and we believe this new partnership with the World Challenge will allow us to expand our presence and investment in the game,” stated Andy Odenbach, vice president of Sports Ventures at Tavistock Group. “The World Challenge has become a marquee golf tournament. We are honored to build on its strong history and host the players, sponsors and fans at Isleworth Golf & Country Club.”
Beginning in 2014, the World Challenge will benefit both the Tiger Woods Foundation and Tavistock Foundation.
“We’ve been looking for ways to expand our relationship with Tavistock and this is a perfect fit,” Tiger Woods Foundation President and CEO Greg McLaughlin said. “We are excited to partner with Tavistock Group and honored to bring our tournament to Isleworth.”
They are certainly a sponsor but it sounds like more of the presenting sponsor variety, with their foundation benefiting from tournament proceeds. Title is available. So far no takers but this event has struggled since Chevron's departure to lock in a company until the last second.
As to the poster who dissed Mash Mountain, but praised how good it looks on TV, I was left with thoughts of WTF? It is, it isn't, it is, it isn't?
I find it distressing if they really consider 15 the ''Signature hole'', and I think 16 is my favorite par 5 behind 13 at AGNC and a couple of doozies at the Ohio Muirfield.
But like other things,opinions, we all have one, or in the case of the confusing post I mentioned, two.
And .as to ''okay''- the regular weekly threads are very diverse, with a continued coverage of courses and setups, and very little devoted to the TMZ set. You seem to admit to only tuning in, when that is the essense of what is occuring at that moment. Or maybe I just misread you. Anyway, stop by more, and throw down an idea or two. With the exception of a few TGC nuts ( not calling them a name- they are nuts) popping in over here every now and then, this is about as civil a place as you will find. If someone is name calling, they are not a regular, almost certainly.