98C95FED: January 2014

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Golf-Johnson takes early control at Tiger's event

December 5, 2013 7:21 PM

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

THOUSAND OAKS, California, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Zach Johnson, with his renowned wedge game in sparkling order, soared to the top of the leaderboard with a five-under-par 67 in Thursday's opening round at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge.

Twice a runner-up in the elite 18-player event hosted by world number one Tiger Woods, American Johnson mixed seven birdies with two bogeys to take control on a sun-splashed but chilly day at Sherwood Country Club.

Compatriot Matt Kuchar, a double winner on the 2013 PGA Tour, was alone in second after a 68 while five-times champion Woods had to settle for a 71 after missing a three-foot birdie putt at the last.

Johnson, who finished second at the 2011 World Challenge, was delighted with his opening round after the scheduled start of play was delayed by frost for an hour.

"I did everything decent, drove it well for the most part with the exception of probably the last hole," Johnson, a 10-times champion on the PGA Tour, told reporters. "I wedged it really good.

"Any time I had a wedge in my hand, I seemed to be hitting my lines and my yardages, which is certainly key. I putted it great. Just a real solid day all around.

"I kept the course in front of me, I was aggressive when I needed to be aggressive and I was conservative when I needed to be conservative. But it's nothing more than a decent start."

BIRDIE BLITZ

Johnson was especially pleased that he managed to birdie four of the five par-five holes on the heavily undulating, Jack Nicklaus-designed layout.

"I hit it close," the 37-year-old said. "I hit it close on two, I hit it close on 11, 13, and I hit it close on 16. I had good shots in there with the proper spin, nothing more than that.

"But you've got to take advantage of them (the par-fives). You've got five of them."

Despite a perfectly manicured layout and very little wind, only five players in the field of 18 dipped under par in the opening round but Johnson was not at all surprised.

"First of all, there's some tough pins," he said. "Second, it's that time of year where some guys are trying to shake rust off. That may be part of it.

Woods, who won the most recent of his five titles here in 2011, was a little frustrated with his score after missing short putts on both his first and last holes.

"I made a few mistakes today, I also hit a couple of good shots that ended up in some interesting spots," the 14-time major champion said. "That can happen out here. Maybe I could have gotten one or two more (shots) out of it.

"There's some tough pins out there. You miss them on the wrong spots, you're going to pay a price, and I think that's kind of what's signified in the scoring. No one is running away with it. Nobody went low today."

Defending champion Graeme McDowell, who also triumphed here in 2010, opened with a 72 while fellow Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy carded a 73, just four days after winning his first title of the year at the Australian Open.

"My (putting) speed was a little clumsy, and it showed today on the greens," McDowell said after offsetting four birdies with four bogeys. "But generally I was quite happy the way I hit the ball." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Johnson takes early control at Tiger's event

By Mark Lamport-StokesDecember 5, 2013 7:25 PM

U.S. golfer Zach Johnson tees off during the Singles matches for the 2013 Presidents Cup golf tournament …

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - Zach Johnson, with his renowned wedge game in sparkling order, soared to the top of the leaderboard with a five-under-par 67 in Thursday's opening round at the Northwestern Mutual World Challenge.

Compatriot Matt Kuchar, a double winner on the 2013 PGA Tour, was alone in second after a 68 while five-times champion Woods had to settle for a 71 after missing a three-foot birdie putt at the last.

Johnson, who finished second at the 2011 World Challenge, was delighted with his opening round after the scheduled start of play was delayed by frost for an hour.

"I did everything decent, drove it well for the most part with the exception of probably the last hole," Johnson, a 10-times champion on the PGA Tour, told reporters. "I wedged it really good.

"Any time I had a wedge in my hand, I seemed to be hitting my lines and my yardages, which is certainly key. I putted it great. Just a real solid day all around.

"I kept the course in front of me, I was aggressive when I needed to be aggressive and I was conservative when I needed to be conservative. But it's nothing more than a decent start."

BIRDIE BLITZ

Johnson was especially pleased that he managed to birdie four of the five par-five holes on the heavily undulating, Jack Nicklaus-designed layout.

"I hit it close," the 37-year-old said. "I hit it close on two, I hit it close on 11, 13, and I hit it close on 16. I had good shots in there with the proper spin, nothing more than that.

"But you've got to take advantage of them (the par-fives). You've got five of them."

Despite a perfectly manicured layout and very little wind, only five players in the field of 18 dipped under par in the opening round but Johnson was not at all surprised.

"First of all, there's some tough pins," he said. "Second, it's that time of year where some guys are trying to shake rust off. That may be part of it.

Woods, who won the most recent of his five titles here in 2011, was a little frustrated with his score after missing short putts on both his first and last holes.

"My (putting) speed was a little clumsy, and it showed today on the greens," McDowell said after offsetting four birdies with four bogeys. "But generally I was quite happy the way I hit the ball."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Woods says meeting Mandela "inspiring time"

By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)December 5, 2013 8:09 PMAP - Sports

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) -- Tiger Woods said the death of Nelson Mandela was ''a sad day for many people,'' especially those who had the chance to meet him.

That moment was 15 years ago for Woods when he was in South Africa for the Million Dollar Challenge.

''It's sad for everyone who got a chance to not only meet him, but I've been influenced by him,'' Woods said Thursday after the first round of his World Challenge. ''I got a chance to meet him with my father back in '98. He invited us to his home, and it was one of the inspiring times I've ever had in my life.''

Woods did not go into details of stories about Mandela that he has told many times over the years.

At the British Open this summer, when Mandela's health was failing, he told of walking into a living room in Mandela's home and feeling a presence he couldn't describe.

''It still gives me chills to this day, thinking about it,'' Woods said in July at Muirfield. ''A gentleman asked us to go into this side room over here and, 'President Mandela will join you in a little bit. And we walked in the room, and my dad and I were just kind of looking around. And I said, 'Dad, do you feel that? And he says, 'Yeah, it feels different in this room.

''And it was just like a different energy in the room,'' Woods said. ''We just looked at each other and just shrugged our shoulders and whatever. And maybe, I'm guessing probably 30 seconds later, I heard some movement behind me and it was President Mandela folding up the paper. And it was pretty amazing. The energy that he has, that he exudes, is unlike any person I've ever met. And it was an honor to meet him at his home. And that's an experience that I will never, ever forget.''

Woods later paid his respects on Twitter.

''Pop & I felt your aura went we met, I feel it today & I will feel it forever. You have done so much for humanity...'' said one tweet from Woods. It was followed by, ''You will always be in my heart Mr. Mandela.''

Woods, the first player of black heritage to win the Masters in 1997 with a record-breaking performance, was in the middle of overhauling his swing in the fall of 1998. The week after Thanksgiving, he played the Casio World Open in Japan and then made his first trip to South Africa.

''I had read all the information about him,'' Woods told The Associated Press in a 2003 interview. ''If you're a minority, you've read up on what he did. To go through what he did for 27 years and come out and be as humble as he was, and then run the country ... how tough a person do you have to be to do that?''

Woods returned to South Africa five years later for the Presidents Cup, a time when there was uncertainly whether Americans would travel such a long distance in November for the event. Woods never gave it a second thought, telling the AP he surely would have gotten a phone call from Mandela.

''How can you not want to do anything for that man?'' he said.

Mandela met with Woods, Ernie Els and the rest of the players that week at the Presidents Cup, and he attended the opening ceremony.

Woods was informed of Mandela's death after finishing his round at Sherwood Country Club, and before he spoke to reporters.

''He certainly had an impact on my life and certainly my father's,'' Woods said. ''When he came out (of prison), the country could have fallen apart. It could have gone a lot of different ways, and he led it to where it's at now. And the world is going to miss him.''

For Mandela to spend 27 years in prison and emerge without hatred is what Woods found difficult to fathom.

''I don't think any of us probably here could have survived that and come out as humble and as dignified as he did,'' Woods said. ''And to lead an entire nation and to basically love the world when he came out, I think that's a testament to his will and his spirit and who he was.''

Zach Johnson takes lead in Sherwood swan song

By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)December 5, 2013 8:32 PMAP - Sports

Zach Johnson acknowledges the crowd after making birdie on the first hole during the first round of the …

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) -- Zach Johnson already is looking ahead to next year, and one of his priorities is to score better on the par 5s. He got started on that Thursday in the World Challenge.

Johnson birdied four of the five par 5s on a chilly afternoon at Sherwood Country Club, sending him to a 5-under 67 and a one-shot lead over Matt Kuchar. They were among only five players in the elite 18-man field who broke par.

One of them was tournament host Tiger Woods, who had a new driver in the bag and missed only two fairways. The problem was his putter. Woods opened his round by missing a short par putt, and he finished it by missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th. He wound up with a 71.

Kuchar played with Woods - they were partners at the Presidents Cup - and hit his approach into 2 feet for birdie on the final hole.

Hunter Mahan and Bubba Watson were at 70. They are among seven players who have yet to win a tournament anywhere in the world this year, even though all 18 players in the World Challenge are in the top 30 in the world ranking.

The tournament counts toward the ranking, though everything else about it is unofficial. For some players, it's a time to shake off some rust and test new equipment. For others, it's the end of a long year.

Johnson had his annual ''summit'' with his team of coaches at the start of the week. They go over the year, crunch statistics and lay out goals for where to improve in 2014. One of the areas was par-5 scoring.

''A highlight that we're looking into next year is trying to play those holes a little bit better,'' Johnson said. ''I don't know what I did that today. I hit it close. I had good shots in there with the proper spin, nothing more than that. But you've got to take advantage of them. You've got five of them. The thing is ... one errant shot, you're staring a 6 right in the face, if not more. There's a lot of penal areas.''

There was plenty of punishment for some players in the field.

Steve Stricker was among those under par until a bogey-bogey-double bogey finish put him at 75. Jordan Spieth, coming off a sensational rookie season and playing for the first time since the HSBC Champions in Shanghai a month ago, had a 77 and was last in the field. Jason Day, who won the individual and team title at the World Cup two weeks ago at Royal Melbourne, had a 76.

Rory McIlroy, with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki following him, was hopeful of building momentum from his first win of the year last week in the Australian Open. He missed a few short putts, found the water on the par-3 15th and had a 73. He played with defending champion Graeme McDowell, who had a 72.

McDowell saw a note that his last eight rounds at Sherwood were in the 60s. That streak ended Thursday, though for good reason.

''The course hasn't been this tough in a couple years,'' McDowell said. ''The scoring reflects that. The greens are much firmer. The speed of them caught me by surprise a little bit today. My speed was a little clumsy, and it showed today on the greens.''

This is the final year the tournament is being played at Sherwood. It moves to Isleworth just outside Orlando, Fla., next year.

Woods has played only one tournament since the Presidents Cup, and that was a tie for third in the Turkish Open. He said he struggled with his irons - even though he missed only two fairways, he hit only 12 greens - and couldn't get enough putts to fall.

''I made a few mistakes today,'' Woods said. ''I also hit a couple of good shots that ended up in some interesting spots. That can happen out there. I shot about the score ... maybe could have gotten one or two more out of it.''

Johnson had few complaints. He opened with two birdies, and then surged ahead on the back nine with five birdies in a seven-hole stretch, three of them on the par 5s. Johnson has a pair of runner-up finishes at this event, and with the tournament moving, this is his last shot at Sherwood.

''I did everything decent,'' he said. ''Just a real solid day all around. I was aggressive when I needed to be aggressive, and I was conservative when I needed to be conservative. It's nothing more than a decent start.''

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Golf-Johnson takes early control at Tiger's event

Johnson takes early control at Tiger's event

Woods says meeting Mandela "inspiring time"

Zach Johnson takes lead in Sherwood swan song

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