Tiger at the Greater Milwaukee Open

Greater Milwaukee Open (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) August 29-September 1: T60. Tiger Woods, 67-69-73-68 (7-under 277) $2544

The Course

The Greater Milwaukee Open is held at the Brown Deer Park Golf Club. It is a par 71, 6739 yards. The winner last year was Scott Hoch, over Marco Dawson. The winner receives $216000.

My Thoughts on Tiger's Tournament

The ABC interview of Tiger Woods by Curtis Strange told me a lot about Tiger Woods. Throughout the interview, I saw a poised media presence. Telegenic, and articulate, Tiger sounded at once gracious and relieved to be a pro. And then, at some question by Curtis Strange, Tiger curtly announced that finishing second "sucks", and finishing third "is worse". Curtis smirked, and said "You'll learn." I thought this of Tiger: What arrogance. What cockiness. Boy...is Tiger going to learn.

Ultimately, he did learn. He learned that the scrutiny from the media would be greater than he thought it would be. He learned that he couldn't just "show up" and place high. I was disappointed in his finish, only because just last weekend he won so dramatically. To me, it seemed as if he couldn't lose.

I didn't take into consideration that Tiger entered the PGA Tour late (there were only seven events left that he could compete in, on sponsors' exemptions). The tour was full of players trying to make the money list to avoid Qualifying School, and Tiger, I'm sure, was not exactly welcome.

First Round Tiger Highlights

The Boston Globe's Joe Burris wrote: "...you figured his first round as a pro would be the most memorable. So did many in the throng who watched, collected his divots after he passed by, begged his mother for autographs and debated the yardage on his drives."

Tiger finished with a 4-under 67. He had an eagle (first professional eagle) on the sixth par-5 hole. In "measured drives" he averaged 333 yards: 336 at the first tee, and 330 at the sixth tee. Tiger said later that that first drive would be his most memorable of the tournament.

The Globe reported that Tiger was relaxed, despite the crowd. "...I didn't expect it to be as draining as it was."

Since I have it from the Boston Globe, his first round score card:

Par Out - 4 4 3  5 3 5  3 4 4  35
Woods   - 4 4 2  4 3 3  3 4 4  31

Par In  - 4 3 4  4 3 5  4 4 5  36  71
Woods   - 4 3 4  4 3 5  4 5 4  36  67

Second Round Tiger Highlights

Tiger made the cut. Otherwise, his second round was marked by struggles with his putting. He felt certain that he could recoup from his losses. "[Winning] is always a realistic goal, ... You never quit," he said.

The Boston Globe reported Tiger's score card for this round:

Par Out - 4 4 3  5 3 5  3 4 4  35
Woods   - 4 4 4  4 2 5  3 4 3  33

Par In  - 4 3 4  4 3 5  4 4 5  36  71
Woods   - 4 3 4  4 4 5  3 4 5  36  69

Third Round Tiger Highlights

Tiger had a rotten round, completing a 2-over-par 73, the second-highest score of the day. He was 4-under 209 by the end of the day overall. He bogeyed several times, and was definitely out of sorts. He is quoted in the Globe: "I just could never get anything going. It's been a long grind ... It's been a big mental drain more than anything. Physically I'm fine, but mentally I'm tired." The seeds of his withdrawal from the Buick Challenge lay here, I think.

The Boston Globe reported Tiger's card for this round:

Par Out - 4 4 3  5 3 5  3 4 4  35
Woods   - 5 3 3  5 3 5  4 4 6  38

Par In  - 4 3 4  4 3 5  4 4 5  36  71
Woods   - 5 3 4  4 3 4  4 4 4  35  73

Fourth Round Tiger Highlights

From 202 yards away, Tiger hit an ace on the fourteenth hole. This would join his first eagle from the first round.

Joe Burris of the Boston Globe quoted Woods as saying: "It's different now. Now, you're not just playing for trophies anymore. You're playing for money, and when you start playing for money, things change."

In the final score, he finished tied for 60th place (14th in the money standings).

The last score card:

Par Out - 4 4 3  5 3 5  3 4 4  35
Woods   - 4 4 3  3 4 4  3 4 5  34

Par In  - 4 3 4  4 3 5  4 4 5  36  71
Woods   - 4 3 4  4 1 5  4 4 5  34  68

The Boston Globe also kept track of his fairways and "greens in regulation" (which I'm not sure how to decipher yet).

Round     Fairways       GIR      Putts       DD Score
  1        9 of 13  16 of 18         32    333.0    57
  2        9 of 13  12 of 18         29    334.5    69
  3        7 of 13   9 of 18         29    316.0    73
  4        8 of 13  13 of 18         29    306.5    68

(The highlights of this report drew on the Boston Globe, and Sports Illustrated.)

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Rick Umali rgu@world.std.com
Last Updated: Sun Oct 27 00:48:56 EDT 1996