The Golf Slice

Is Tiger’s Course In Dubai Causing Excitement and Problems?

The completion of the spectacular greens of Els Club in the sports city of Dubai certainly has caused some excitement among the world of golfers.

So how could something so exciting be causing any problems?

Dubai’s popular golf course and academy that opened in 2002 is foreseeing trouble in being able to compete with the fabulous new look of the Els Club and other new courses that are expected to be opening soon. To hold their spot with the competition, the Montgomerie’s fading 18 hole course has started an overhaul that will bring a much nicer look for the popular older course.

9 of the holes are expecting to be completed by September, and the remaining 9 holes are set to have their new look finished in the following year. Having constant problems with the turf wilting horribly in the areas intense heat has prompted the need for a new look.

Such a huge project will undoubtedly cause a rift among existing members of the course. Some of these members have already voiced a opinion of thinking they should receive compensation because players will end up losing half of what they have already paid for.

I’m sure most of you have heard the news already but it was announced today that Tiger is shutting down for the rest of the 2008 season.

His reason? Oh, just a torn ACL and fractured tibia.

Yup, that’s right. Tiger Woods played 91 holes to win the U.S. Open with a broken leg and busted knee. There was a lot of talk over the weekend about how incredible Rocco Mediate was in keeping up with Tiger. And that’s true but those sentiments seem a bit hollow now with today’s news.

So now we have to trudge through the rest of the year watching guys like Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia struggle to set themselves apart and challenge Tiger as the best in the game. Good luck to them, I say.

The legend continues to grow for this guy who is easily on pace to go down as the best golfer in history. This weekend’s performance was just incredible.

Tiger Woods has every intention of making a great comeback next week for the US Open. Even though he may not be completely ‘up to par’ yet, he still feels that he will be in good enough shape to attend.

It has been quite a long time since the golf champion has been able to play the game competitively, since he under-went surgery back in April of this year. Rehabilitation and the recovery from surgery has kept him occupied and off the courses.

Many people feel confident that Tiger will have no problems at all in jumping right back in the game and pulling off another win. He has been down this road once before, when he had a previous surgery on his knee back in 2002. He wasted no time after that surgery to come back and win the Buick Invitational.

It is no small surprise to hear that Tiger plans to attend the US Open, many are aware that Torrey Pines is one of his favorite courses.

He has been taking Rehab nice and easy, perhaps he has healed enough to make a big win again on the 12th.

I read a news story the other day about Tiger’s caddie, Steve Williams, getting into another confrontation over his “uniform” while at the Masters. Sometimes I think the tradition of the game of golf can get in the way of people’s common sense. Here’s the full details of the story so you can be the judge.

According to various other caddies at the event, Williams was asked by an Augusta representative while on the back nine about his hat. He was told to put his official Master’s hat back on, after he had taken it off for several holes. Williams cooperated with the request by the official and wore the hat for the entire final round on Sunday.

Even though he cooperated, some of his peers have been criticizing his actions, and felt that they were arrogant, and full of disrespect. One caddie said, “If I’ve got to wear the cap, everybody’s got to wear the cap.”

This isn’t the first time that Williams has failed to follow dress code. At the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan, he peeled his required Master’s styled white overalls down to his waist.

I’m a pretty unabashed Tiger Woods fan. Normally the teams and athletes I cheer for are perennial underdogs but my loyalty to TW is an exception.

So I’m naturally a bit bummed out today that Tiger couldn’t pull out a win at this year’s Masters.

I think it says a lot about not only Tiger’s game but that of his competition that now a days we almost inherently expect him to win every tournament he plays in.

That’s not particular fair to Tiger or the other players on the Tour but that’s the way it’s going to stay until someone puts up a consistent effort at stopping Tiger from winning.

For a long time people were hoping someone like Phil Mickelson or Sergio Garcia would step up to the plate but it hasn’t happened. I’m probably not going out on much of a limb when I predict no one will ever come along to give Tiger a run for his money for many years to come.