Will success at Firestone be the measure of Woods' game?

Will success at Firestone be the measure of Woods' game?

 

The first time Tiger Woods played at Firestone Country Club he was an amateur, probably 15 or 16 years old. He played with his dad and no, before you ask, he doesn't remember his score.

"It wasn't very good," Woods said with a wry grin softening the well-known face now bearing a goatee.

Even so, the future world No. 1 could see why the Robert Trent Jones redesign had stood the test of time and was such a favorite of the pros. It became his, too — after all, no one has had more success on the South Course than Woods.

He's played in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational 10 times and won seven titles. In fact, Woods has never finished lower than fifth on the South Course in any tournament he's played there.

Small wonder, then, that many people think this week is a litmus test for Woods; that his performance at the Bridgestone Invitational is a harbinger for the state of his game and prospects for the rest of the season.

Woods, though, doesn't see things quite the same way. Yes, the South Course fits his eye, and certainly, he's prospered there. But it's a different week and another year, and one unlike he has ever experienced.

"Whether I've had success or not … it's about placing the golf ball in the right spots around the golf course, and that doesn't change," Woods said. "That didn't change last week, won't change this week, won't change next week."

Woods is playing in his eighth tournament of a season abbreviated by his admissions of infidelity after a Thanksgiving night automobile accident and subsequent stint in rehab. The last time he went so far into the year without a win was in 1998.

But there are other goals on the horizon besides adding his 72nd victory — and maybe more. Woods, a two-time winner of the FedExCup, currently ranks 111th in those standings and at this pace would be safe only for the first Playoff event.

He's ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, too, one spot out of automatic qualification for the team. Captain Corey Pavin has said he wants to meet with Woods at the PGA next week to gauge his interest but it looks like that conversation might not be necessary.

"I'm planning on playing my way into the team," Woods said firmly — three times, in fact — when asked whether he would accept a Captain's Pick.

Woods' last two starts admittedly have been disappointing. He tied for 46th at the AT&T National and shared 23rd at the British Open, which was played at St, Andrews where he had won the game's oldest major by five and eight strokes. His ties for fourth at the Masters and U.S. Open are his only top-10s of the year.

"I've been through periods like this before," Woods said. "And just got to keep being patient, keep working, keep building, and keep putting the pieces together, and when they do come, when they do fall into place, that's usually when I will win a few tournaments."

The legendary focus no longer seems a given, and there are technical issues, as well. Woods driver actually has been much more cooperative than it's been in years, but he brands his iron play "spotty." The biggest culprit, though, has been that putter that had once seemed so automatic.

"My speed has been off all year," said Woods, who experimented with the Nike Method putter at the British Open but went back to his old standby Scotty Cameron in the fourth round.

"I've three-putted quite a few times, which I don't do normally. Just had to go back to basics and practice a little bit more. I haven't worked on my putting probably as much as I should have, probably the last couple years actually."

Woods will play with Lee Westwood Thursday in the first round at Firestone. Interestingly, both Westwood, who ranks No. 3 in the world, and No. 2 Phil Mickelson have several ways to supplant Woods at the top of the world rankings depending on the outcome Sunday.

Woods has held down the top spot for 270 straight weeks and a record 612 during his career. He knows he could relinquish No. 1, as he did briefly in 2005 to Vijay Singh, but he's not particularly worried one way or another.

"You just keep playing," Woods said. "… How I got here in the first place was by winning golf tournaments, and how I will sustain it is by winning golf tournaments. Winning golf tournaments takes care of a lot of things and being No. 1 is one of them."

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