The return of Tiger Woods to competitive golf last week in the World Match Play was what I thought it would be: a media frenzy and probably more of a circus.
Tiger played well in the first round, birdie then eagle to start. Not bad.
After that, it looked he was just sparring with Brendan Jones, trying to get in some competitive holes for the next round in which the opponent would be a little more challenging. Well, Tim Clark turned out to have more teeth than Tiger could handle, so Tiger lost in the second round and jumped on his jet and flew back to Florida to prepare for his next event.
Interesting things happened at the World Match Play. We got to see some very talented young players show their games, such as Rory McIlroy and Ross Fisher, and we saw Geoff Ogilvy seemingly cruise to victory. His swing is probably the smoothest, free-flowing swing on Tour, other than maybe Fred Couples.
The weather has been unusual all across the country this year. This weekend, the temps are going to hit the 60s here in Indy, and you can bet every course that is open will be packed and every driving range will have a line waiting to hit balls.
We all have our fingers crossed that we get a good spring to make up for the bad ones over the past few years. We plan on opening Brickyard Crossing on St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17, with a pay-the-air temperature fee for golf. If the temp is 50 degrees, your greens fee is $50, for example. Most golfers have been cooped up this winter and ready to go.
The PGA Tour’s Florida swing begins this week at PGA National. Not sure what Tiger’s next event is, but I would think it would be the World Championship at Doral. One of our other bloggers here at the Brickyard, Nationwide Tour pro Chad Collins, is Down Under playing in Australia and New Zealand. Good luck to him this week!
Keep stretching for a good swing.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing
Blogging here at the Brickyard has become popular as our golf course superintendent, Jeff Stuart, and touring professional Chad Collins started their respective blogs last week. I think people will be intrigued with these blogs and hope they keep you up to date on what’s happening.
It looks like Tiger will make his return this week at the World Match Play, and Phil Mickelson won last weekend at L.A. A lot of talk lately about the PGA Tour not being much without Tiger and how it needs him back, so if you are going to watch any golf it will definitely be Tiger-dominated. We just have to see if Phil can carry some steam into the Match Play after hanging on to win in L.A.
I might also say very smart of Tiger to return to a match play event, considering his record. Plus he may not need to play all the holes if he gets it going, saving wear and tear on his knee.
It’s somewhat depressing sitting here in the Midwest if you’re a golfer. The weather has been cold and somewhat ugly. We are hoping to get our course open on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, if the weather is decent. We have a lot of good events here this year, with about three college events and some professional events. So look for the Brickyard to be in its normal, excellent shape.
Not much more going on here. We have our Indiana PGA meetings in about two weeks, and that’s when you know the season is just around the corner.
Until next time, keep stretching for a better swing.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing