COURSE REVIEWS

Buick Invitational:
Tiger Brings His Show to San Diego

Woods heavy favorite to move
his winning streak to seven

By Bob Buttitta,
GolfCalifornia.com Course Reviewer

 

	Tiger Woods

SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods returns to San Diego this week to try and defend the title he won at the 1999 Buick Invitational. The winner of six consecutive PGA events, Woods gave his fellow tour players and the golfing public a early glimpse of his improving golf swing during last year's Buick Invitational, when he blistered the course over the final two days of competition.

Woods, who grew up an hour north of Torrey Pines Golf Course in Cypress, California, was 17-under during the weekend rounds at last year's event. It started with a 62 on Saturday, giving Tiger a one-stroke lead heading into the final round. He followed that with a 65 on Sunday, including an eagle on the final hole, that gave him the victory over Billy Ray Brown. His 22-under performance tied the tournament record.

While Woods current winning streak of six consecutive PGA events didn't start until August at the NEC Invitational, his final two rounds at last year's Buick Invitational showed Tiger that the hard work that he and coach Butch Harmon had put in on reworking his swing was starting to come together.

As play begins on Thursday, Woods is a heavy favorite to win the tournament and move his winning streak to seven, which would be four short of Byron Nelson's 11 consecutive wins.

While the field for this year's event is strong, including the players like Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and Fred Couples, Woods goes is as the front runner.

The Tiger that will tee it up at this year's event is actually quite different from the player who won last year. When he arrived in 1999, he had just one victory in his last 18 months.

Now he arrives with nine has nine victories since he last played this event. He has moved to second on the all-time earnings list, is third in wins among active players and has elevated every aspect of his game.

• Past PGA Tour coverage from TGM • By Any Name, Buick Has a Sweet History • Past GolfCalifornia.com course reviews

Woods has also scaled back his swing, sacrificing distance for accuracy. Like most everything he has done, the move seems to have paid off. Woods is currently first on the tour in greens in regulation.

All this is good news to tournament officials who are keeping their fingers crossed that Tiger stays in contention over the four days.

Tournament director Tom Wilson reported in early January the earliest-ever sellout of skyboxes for this year's tournament. Most knew that Woods would defend, and they wanted to get in on it early.

"We're definitely looking forward to the challenge," Wilson said. "We're set in what we plan on doing, and we have a backup plan for additional parking and security. We just hope the weather holds."

Wilson said Woods' win here last year produced the largest four-day crowd total in Buick Invitational history. He expects this year's tournament to draw more and break that record.

"In a normal year we average between 125,000 and 130,000 (for four days)," Wilson said. "Last year, with Tiger winning, we had between 150,000 and 160,000." Tournament officials said they could see as many as 200,000 people come through the gate this year, especially if Tiger is in contention again.

Rick Schloss, media director for the event, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that since Tiger's victory at Pebble Beach, his phone has been ringing off the hook with media requesting credentials. "I feel like the PR guy for the St. Louis Cardinals with Mark McGwire," Schloss said.

Now we just have to see if Tiger can hit another home run.

Tournament Notes

Scott Simpson, who won the 1998 Buick Invitational, withdrew from the tournament. A tournament spokesman said he believed Simpson aggravated a foot injury.

Ron Won, a freshman at Stanford and one of the two amateur qualifiers, is looking forward to meeting Tiger, a fellow Stanford alum. Won, 19, a graduate of University High in Irvine, California shot a 66 at the SCGA Members Course in Murrieta to win the CIF title last year, breaking Woods' record of 67. Like Woods, Won played his last years of Junior World golf at Torrey Pines.

Buick Invitational Information
When: Thursday-Sunday, Feb. 10-13
Courses: Torrey Pines Golf Club
(South and North courses)
Where: La Jolla, Calif.
1999 champion: Tiger Woods
Purse: $3 million (Winner: $540,000)
Yardage/Par: 7,000 yards, par 72 (South)
6,854 yards, par 72 (North)
Tournament record: 266, 22-under (George Burns, 1987; Tiger Woods, 1999)
Television: Thursday-Friday: 4-6 p.m. (USA)
Saturday-Sunday: 3-6 p.m. ET (CBS)