Count Woods down, but not out

Tiger Woods has entered into uncharted waters with his shockingly poor play in the Bridgestone Invitational last weekend at Firestone Country Club.

In finishing a career-worst 18 over par on a course where he'd won an unprecendented seven times, the world's No. 1-ranked golfer has gone from being asked when will he snap out of a slump to being asked if he's bottomed out yet or is there more to come.

And the truth is it's hard to say after watching him crash and burn in such an unexpected fashion. Since turning pro, Woods hadn't finished worse than tied for 60th in an event in which he completed four rounds, and that was in his first start, the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open. At Firestone, his 10 total birdies were buried by 22 bogeys and three doubles as he tied for 78th place with Swede Michael Jonzon. Ouch!

About the only positive thing one could say about his performance was he didn't curse on network TV for a change. But it's hard to do that when you are done playing before CBS has a chance to come on the air. How did someone who finished tied for fourth in the Masters and U.S. Open after a self-imposed, four-plus-month exile from the game come to this type of Waterloo? Beyond the distractions of a personal life strained by marital problems and a golf swing that is a mere shadow of what it once was, it's not surprising that he is struggling. Woods himself said he was not surprised.

"It's been a long year," he said after shooting a final-round 77 at Firestone, looking and sounding like a player who has lost his way along with his aura of invincibility.

There was a time when his peers would give up before they even played against him. That started to change when Woods lost to Y.E. Yang in a final-round showdown at last year's PGA Championship. Now, with the way he's playing, there's no reason to fear Woods or his mojo.

Woods needs five majors to eclipse the record 18 major championship titles held by Jack Nicklaus, but now some will begin wondering if Woods has got five more victories of any kind in him.

That's over-the-top thinking that's too close to the news of the day. If one looks at the careers of Tom Watson and Nicklaus, they will see that these icons also experienced downturns.

Sal Johnson of GolfObserver.com wrote the following about Watson's downturn:

Between 1974 and 1984 he dominated golf winning 36 of his 39 victories in that period and all eight of his major championships. He did it a lot like Tiger did with great clutch putting, which became a struggle from 1983 onward.

Watson found some flashes of glory years later, winning in 1987, then in 1996 and then for the last time in 1998. But in the time period of 1984 and 1996 Watson suffered a divorce and it was quietly mentioned that he had a drinking problem that he corrected. He has gotten remarried and has made peace with his family, thus has won on the Champions Tour and almost won the British Open at age 59.

Wikipedia provides the following information on Nicklaus' downturn:

After Nicklaus won the 1967 U.S. Open, he did not win another major championship until the 1970 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews. Moreover, his highest finish on the Tour money list for the years 1968-70 was second; his lowest was fourth, his worst ranking on the list since turning professional. ...

During this period, Nicklaus also let his physical condition decline somewhat, putting on excess weight, which affected his stamina. He significantly improved his condition in the fall of 1969 by losing 20 pounds, and his game returned to top form.

In February 1970, Nicklaus' father, Charlie Nicklaus, died. Soon after this Nicklaus won the 1970 Open Championship under difficult scoring conditions where the wind howled up to 56 mph, defeating fellow American Doug Sanders in an 18-hole playoff round in emotional fashion.

He describes this period in his life: "I was playing good golf, but it really wasn't that big a deal to me one way or the other. And then my father passed away and I sort of realized that he had certainly lived his life through my golf game. I really hadn't probably given him the best of that. So I sort of got myself back to work. So '70 was an emotional one for me from that standpoint. ... It was a big boost."

Woods, the 2009 FedEx Cup champion, has vowed to keep working on his game, which he admitted hasn't been this off since he rebuilt his swing under Butch Harmon in the late '90s. It took him two years then to rediscover his A-game. It might take him longer this time around. After all, he's 34 years old, his left knee isn't what it used to be and he will remain fodder for tabloids for the rest of his life.

But it would be wrong to write him off this soon just because he experienced a tournament from hell on a difficult course. He picked a bad week to play so poorly. Normally he wouldn't have made the cut. Still, you don't win 14 major championships without having the drive to overcome adversity. When his personal life is sorted out, chances are good his golf game will return to winning form.

In the meantime, Oldgolfdawg would advise Woods to follow Sergio Garcia's lead and take a vacation. They both look like they could use one.

Information from Golf.com, GolfObserver.com and wikipedia contributed to this post.

Mahan charges his way to memorable victory

One has to wonder how Hunter Mahan's two-shot victory over Ryan Palmer in the Bridgestone Invitational yesterday at Firestone Country Club will be best remembered.

Will it be remembered that Mahan shot a closing round 6-under-par 64 to overcome a four-shot deficit on the same day Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- the game's No. 1- and No. 2-ranked players -- shot 77 and 78, respectively? Or will it be remembered as the tournament in which Mahan beat the defending champion -- Woods -- by 30 shots?

Either way, it was an impressive victory, one that earned Mahan $1.4 million and guaranteed him a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. With his first World Golf Championship title, Mahan moved to No. 12 in the world ranking and won the second time this year, joining Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Justin Rose as the only players to do so on the PGA Tour this season.

"The last couple of weeks, the game has been good," said Mahan, a 28-year-old from Dallas who won the Phoenix Open in February by shooting 65 in the final round. "I knew it was there. I know I just had to keep going and keep trust it. This weekend, I definitely just kind of let everything go and just had some fun."

Mahan's 64 was the lowest final round by a winner since the Bridgestone Invitational became a WGC event in 1999. He ran off five birdies on the front nine and converted three clutch par putts down the stretch to record the biggest victory of his career.

Before the tournament started it would have been hard to pick Mahan, who finished at 12-under 268. Since winning in Phoenix, he had only one top-10 finish and had missed four straight cuts.

Predicting Palmer, who entered the tournament ranked 149th in the world, to finish alone in second would have required a real clairvoyant, too. But Ryan, who won the Sony Open early in the season, shot a rock-solid 69 in the final round and proved he belonged in the invitational field.

Woods, on the other hand, looked out of place on a course he has dominated in the past on his way to seven victories. He will remain atop the Official World Golf Ranking for the 270th consecutive week, despite the worst tournament of his career. But that will do little for his confidence.

Woods finished at 18-over 298 -- his highest score on the PGA Tour as a pro or an amateur -- and finished one spot out of last place. In a post-round interview he admitted he wasn't sure if he was worthy for the Ryder Cup.

"No one would help the team if they're shooting 18-over par," Woods said before flying up to Whistling Straits to sneak in a practice round for the PGA Championship next week. "Shooting 18-over par is not fun. I don't see how it can be fun shooting 18 over."

Mickelson, who shot 41 on the front nine, didn't have much fun either on his way to a closing 78 in which he sprayed shots all over the parking lot and three-putted from 4 feet. He was tied for 10th and needed to finish alone in fourth to overtake Woods at No. 1 in the world. Instead, he finished tied for 46th and in need of a lot of work.

"It was a rough day, if you couldn't tell," Mickelson said.

He wasn't alone in his misery. Sergio Garcia announced he plans to take a two-month break after next week's PGA Championship after shooting a final-round 70 that left him tied for 22nd.

Garcia, who has not won in nearly two years, likely would have to finish among the top three in the PGA Championship to have any chance of qualifying for the European Ryder Cup team. His decision will make things easier for captain Colin Montgomerie when it comes time to select three wild-card picks.

"It's been a long year," said Garcia, who has a 14-6-4 record in Ryder Cup play. "I haven't had a nice, long break my whole career. I need the break. I need to miss the game a little bit."

Indeed, it would seem that golf can wear on even the game's best players, even those named Woods, Mickelson and Garcia.

Information from Golf.com, PGATOUR.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.

Revisiting the bargain bin

As of noon today, here are some of the bargains available to central Ohio golfers for the coming week at Golfnow.com:

Monday (Aug. 9)
2 to 4 players -- Eaglesticks at 12:19: $20.56 (55% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Cooks Creek at 12:31: $20.55 (54% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Apple Valley at 2:16: $15.03 (58% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Clover Valley at 2:20: $15.22 (48% savings)

Tuesday (Aug. 10)
1 or 2 players -- Cumberland Trail at 7:30: $13.99 (64% savings)
2 to 4 players -- Glenross at 12:20: $24.16 (51% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Apple Valley at 2:16: $15.54 (57% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Clover Valley at 2:20: $15:53 (46% savings)

Wednesday (Aug. 11)
1 to 3 players -- Cumberland Trail at 11:50: $17.19 (56% savings)
1 to 4 players -- The Players Club at 12:12: $24.15 (46% savings)
2 to 4 players -- Eaglesticks at 12:19: $22.74 (51% savings)
1 to 4 players -- East Golf Club at 12:30: $24.63 (50% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Apple Valley at 2:16: $17.57 (51% savings)

Thursday (Aug. 12)
2 to 4 players -- Glenross at 12:20: $24.61 (50% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Cooks Creek at 12:31: $24.58 (45% savings)

Friday (Aug. 13)
1 to 4 players -- Cumberland Trail at 11:50: $17.19 (56% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Crystal Springs at 12:06: $15.23 (46% savings)

Brand recognition isn't a problem at Firestone

Golf fans across the country have grown accustomed to watching tournaments at Firestone Country Club over the years. The storied course, commissioned by Harvey Firestone in 1929 as a park for employees of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, has acted as host to more professional tournaments than any other course in America.

The "old school" track has been the site of the Rubber City Open (1954-1959), the PGA Championship (1960, 1966, 1975), the American Golf Classic (1961-65, 1967-1974, 1976) and the World Series of Golf, now known as the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (1962-2001, 2003-present). In the late '50s and early '60s, the club also held eight CBS Golf Classics, which was one of the first made-for-television golf series.

Firestone's distinctive golf-ball-on-a-tee-like water tower has become a fixture on the American golf landscape and its famous South Course has acted as host to more than 70 major championships. Firestone South has become an old friend that we are used to checking up on an annual basis, an anchor we can count on with a rich history. After scoring a triple-bogey on the 16th hole during the first PGA Championship held on the course in 1960, Arnold Palmer called it a "Monster." The name struck such a cord with frustrated golfers that the entire South Course in now known fondly as "The Monster."

Since 1960 the South Course has held a PGA Tour event with the exception of two years, in 1994 when the greens mysteriously died and the tournament was moved across the street to the more scenic North Course and in 2002 when the Bridgestone Invitational (NEC Invitational back then) was held at Sahalee Country Club near Seattle, site of last week's U.S. Senior Open.

As one would expect from a course dubbed "The Monster," the par-70 Firestone South is noted for its length at 7,400 yards. There's nothing fancy about the layout, which features 11 par 4s of more than 400 yards in length, yet it is one of the most respected courses on the PGA Tour. One simply has to be accurate with their drives because the narrow fairways are well bunkered and bordered with high rough. Shots into the greens, usually with mid-to-long irons, have to be precise. Once on the greens, however, the hard work has been done because most of the closely trimmed putting surfaces are relatively flat with very few undulations.

The list of past champions at Firestone is so impressive that it would be an upset if an underdog prevails this week. Because the tournament has attracted the top 50 players in the world it might be hard to describe any of them as underdogs. Still, don't expect anyone without a pedigree of some sort to be lifting the champion's trophy come Sunday afternoon. This is one of golf's biggest stages and it will separate the men from the boys.

Growing up in the Akron area, Oldgolfdawg had several opportunities to watch some of golf's biggest names play at Firestone. Watching Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Bruce Crampton, Gay Brewer, Gary Player, Tom Weiskopf, Lee Elder and Jack Nicklaus up close from just behind the ropes was a real treat and left a lasting impression on me.

The first and most memorable tournament at Firestone that Oldgolfdawg observed as a teen-ager was the 1968 American Golf Classic when PGA Tour rookie Lee Elder took Nicklaus to the fifth hole of sudden death before losing. It was the highlight of Elder's season -- he went on finish 40th on the money list, bringing in approximately $38,000 -- and proved to the world that a black golfer could compete with the game's best if given a chance. There's no doubt it later served as inspiration for a yet-to-be-born Tiger Woods.

Much focus will be on Woods today when the tournament kicks off. Everyone wants to see how he will play on one of his favorite courses and whether he can emerge from his current slump. My pick is Lee Westwood, who is overdue to win a big championship, even if this wouldn't be as a good as a major. Westwood, a solid driver with enough length off the tee to tame Firestone, was a runner-up two years ago and finished ninth last year.

Another player worth watching is last year's runner-up, Padraig Harrington. He has something to prove after his triple-bogey meltdown on the 16th hole last year opened the door for Woods to win his seventh Bridgestone title. Harrington comes to Akron on the heels of a closing 64 to finish second at the 3 Irish Open Sunday.

The Bridgestone Invitational can be seen on the Golf Channel (today: 2-6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Friday: 2-6 p.m., 8:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Saturday 12-1:30 p.m., 9-11:30 p.m.; Sunday: 11-12:30 p.m.) and CBS (Saturday: 2-6 p.m.; Sunday: 2-6 p.m.)

Information from GolfObserver.com, PGATOUR.com and wikipedia contributed to this post.

Firestone should put Woods in comfort zone

This week's Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone South in Akron will be the best measuring stick yet on how far Tiger Woods' game has fallen from its glory-day heights since relevations first emerged about his marital infidelities.

If Woods, the defending champion of the World Golf Championship event, can't finish in the top five this week on a course he has dominated in the past, it will speak volumes about just how much his game has been eroded by the fallout of his sex scandal. It also will add another big dent in his once seemingly impenetrable aura of invincibility.

Woods has won this week's event, which was known as the NEC Invitational from 1999 through 2005, seven times and has a scoring average of 67.75 at Firestone South. He has won every year at Firestone since 2005, except for when he missed the second half of the 2008 season following knee surgery.

If he can't get comfortable playing on the course where he has recorded his most career victories, then his recent swing issues and scoring problems might be more serious than first believed.

It also wouldn't bode well for his chances of winning the last major of the season, the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., next week. A 0-for-4 performance in this year's majors will raise the question whether Woods still has a chance to match or break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships. And what once looked like a sure thing will begin looking like a pretty tall obstacle to overcome.

Woods. who has won 14 majors, will turn 35 at the end of this year and less than a quarter of the major championship winners have been 36 or older. The only players since 1970 to win multiple majors after turning 36 are: Nicklaus (4), Gary Player (4), Ray Floyd (2), Nick Price (2), Vijay Singh (2), Mark O'Meara (2), Angel Cabrera (2) and Padraig Harrington (2).

Of course, Woods belongs in the same company as Nicklaus and Player and is obviously dedicated to physical fitness. So it certainly isn't out of the question. But he's also dominated the game for a dozen years, which is a long time in golf. Even the greatest golfers, with the exception of Nicklaus, have had a fairly short window of time when they dominated. The end of their periods of domination was marked by their inability to win another major championship.

Nicklaus won majors in three different decades, which probably explains why he's the record-holder. But his victory in the 1986 Masters at age 46 was really unexpected. Ben Hogan won all his majors from 1946 through 1953 and Arnold Palmer won all his majors from 1958 through 1964, relatively short windows. Other great champions with short spans of domination were Tom Watson (1975 through 1983), Sam Snead (1946 through 1954) and Nick Faldo (1987 through 1996).

But it should be noted that Watson almost joined Nicklaus in the three-different-decades club in last year's British Open when he lost in a playoff at age 60 in what would have been one of the best sports stories of recent memory.

So counting Woods out of the race at this stage would be ill-advised. But betting the ranch on Woods passing Nicklaus on the all-time majors list might not be such a great idea either. It will remain a major story as long as Woods keeps chasing the pea.

* * * * *

The Golf Channel is going to have to put its Michelle Wie hype machine on a back burner the way 21-year-old Yani Tseng of Taiwan has emerged as the youngest new star of the LPGA Tour.

Tseng's one-shot victory Sunday over Katherine Hull of Australia wasn't a thing of beauty at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. Tseng had to make a 6-foot par putt on the 18th hole to close with a sloppy 73 after three consecutive rounds of 68. But it gave Tseng her third major title and second of the year to go along with the Kraft Nabisco.

Tseng, who has posted two wins and four other top-10 finishes this season, is the youngest woman to have three major championships in LPGA history and is now only the U.S. Women's Open short of a career grand slam. Se Ri Pak of South Korea won two majors when she was 20 but didn't get her third until she was 24.

Tseng's victory ended a two-major run by the Americans after Cristie Kerr won the LPGA Championship and Paula Creamer grabbed the U.S. Women's Open. Kerr was the best of the Americans at Birkdale, finishing tied for fifth five shots back. Morgan Pressel was seven shots back, Christina Kim and Brittany Lincicome were nine back, Wie tied for 17th 11 shots back and Creamer, dealing with a reaggravated thumb injury, was 13 shots off the pace.

Information from Golf.com, LPGA.com and PGATOUR.com contributed to this post.

Appleby's stellar 59 overtakes Overton

Jeff Overton's worst fear came true yesterday in the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic. Despite starting the round with a three-shot lead over the rest of field, he knew conditions were ripe for someone to go low and that he needed to remain aggressive in order to record his first PGA Tour victory and avoid another runner-up finish.

When Stuart Appleby decided to be that someone with a magnificent 59 that included nine birdies and an eagle, Overton could only blame himself for not managing something better than his final-round 67. Appleby managed to make up a seven-shot deficit in just 12 holes and then finished his hard-charging round by birdieing the last three holes in earning a one-shot victory at 22 under.

Jim Nantz and the rest of the CBS broadcast team began to point out how demonstrative Overton was becoming over missed opportunities and noted that his body language was changing (moving quickly and appearing fidgety) as the final stretch of holes began to unfold. Overton, who hit a woefully short iron shot into the final green after missing a short birdie putt on the 17th hole that could have forced a playoff, has said in the past he needs to get out of his own way in order to win but was unable to manage the feat.

Meanwhile, it was obvious watching Appleby that he had entered into the much coveted and often talked about "Zone." He appeared perfectly calm and matter of fact as he marched his way to just the fifth 59 in PGA Tour history, joining Al Geiberger (1977 Memphis Classic), Chip Beck (1991 Las Vegas Invitational), David Duval (1999 Bob Hope Desert Classic) and Paul Goydos (2010 John Deere Classic).

"I was quite comfortable," Appleby said. "It's not a nerve-racking thing to be involved in. I had a lot of opportunities and I made them. It was great to do that to win the tournament."

Overton, a former Big Ten player of the year while attending Indiana, had 34 putts in the final round, three-putting three times.

"I got beat by a 59," said Overton, who had his third runner-up finish of the year and remains winless in five years on the PGA Tour. "What can you say? I played great, hit a lot of great shots. You can't win golf tournaments when you putt it that bad."

Appleby, whose previous career low was a 62 in the 2003 Las Vegas Invitational, won for the first time since the 2006 Shell Houston Open. The victory earned him a spot in next week's Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, where the world's top 50 players will compete.

It should be noted that Appleby's achievement was the first 59 on a par-70 course and that he didn't have the advantage of lift, clean and place that Goydos and Geiberger enjoyed. Goydos' came on a par 71 and the others on par 72s. Appleby has no problem with some debating whether his achievement is right up there with the others.

"I agree," he said. "I can see both sides of the fence. It is a number. I shot that number. But who says par is supposed to be 72? There's a lot of great courses that aren't 72."

Information from PGATOUR.com, ESPN.com contributed to this post.

Revisiting the bargain bin

As of noon today, here are some of the bargains available to central Ohio golfers for the coming week at Golfnow.com:

Monday (Aug. 1)
1 player only -- New Albany Links at 8:40: $15.58 (60% savings)
1 to 2 players -- The Players Club at 12:12: $18.53 (59% savings)
1 to 2 players -- Apple Valley at 2:16: $13.70 (62% savings)

Tuesday (Aug. 2)
2 to 4 players -- Glenross at 12:20: $19.56 (60% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Westchester at 12:30: $15.30 (60% savings)
1 to 4 players -- New Albany Links at 2:20: $14.00 (64% savings)
1 to 4 players -- Apple Valley at 2:16: $14.25 (60% savings)

Wednesday (Aug. 4)
1 to 4 players -- Cumberland Trail at 11:50: $17.19 (65% savings)
1 to 4 players -- New Albany Links at 2:20: $14.00 (64% savings)

Thursday (Aug. 5)
1 to 4 players -- New Albany Links at 2:10: $14.00 (64% savings)

Friday (Aug. 6)
1 to 4 players -- Cumberland Trail at 11:50: $17.19 (65% savings)