Australian Soaks It In

Chances are by the time you read this, Tiger Woods will be in Dubai.

Tiger is in Dubai because the weather in the United Arab Emirates figures to be a whole lot nicer than it was this weekend at Riviera Country Club. Besides, he is getting $2 million to play there.

So Tiger’s scheduling is perfectly understandable. Who knows, he might even like Dubai. It could be one of his favorite places on earth. Or he could be going for the money, which also is understandable.

You dangle $2 million in front of golfers and you probably would get them to play underwater, which is sort of where they were playing Sunday.

As soon as Tiger finished his last hole at the Nissan Open, he had two things on his mind. One was getting on his jet and making the 18-hour flight to Dubai. The other was about the Masters.

Actually, he had three, if you want to count getting out of the rain.

For four days, Tiger’s big problem was getting out of his own way.

It wasn’t the kind of tournament he thought it would be when he showed up, but when you par 29 of the 36 holes you play over the weekend, as Tiger did, you’re not going to pull any muscles leaping up that scoreboard.

The week looked a lot like his other tournaments this year. Woods played all right, just not up to his usual standards. His tie for 13th at Riviera matched his worst tournament in 2001, which moves into another week with Woods still winless.

His streak of tournaments without a victory is five in a row, eight if you count his last three events of 2000. There is no slump, Woods said one more time in the rain Sunday, but admitted he can’t stop anybody from saying one exists.

The so-called eight-tournament West Coast Swing ended in the rain when Robert Allenby’s golf ball water-skied into the cup on the first playoff hole. But at that moment, Tiger was being whisked to the airport to catch the Dubai Express with lots of time on his hands to think about where he has been and where he’s going.

A year ago at this same point of the golf season, Woods already had won twice, at the Mercedes and at Pebble Beach. When he won by four shots at Bay Hill, his victory total reached three and after he won at the Memorial, Woods was up to four by the end of May.

The rest of the year was even greater. Woods won the U.S. Open by a record 15 shots at Pebble Beach, set a scoring record when he won the British Open at St. Andrews and then defended his title at the PGA Championship at Valhalla.

He won three majors in three months, won two more tournaments to finish the year with nine, won a record $9.1 million and set a record for the lowest scoring average in the history of golf.

It’s nearly March and Tiger is winless.

We can only guess what thoughts crossed Tiger’s mind on his way to Dubai.

Slump this!

Are we there yet?

Who has the quarter-pounders?

When the heck am I going to win a tournament?

The truth is that Tiger is a lot more patient than everybody else. In fact, it’s the answer he gave to a question about how to play in the rain. Be patient, Woods said.

It’s only a matter of time until he wins again, whether it’s at Dubai or at Bay Hill or maybe the Players Championship. The Theatrical Tiger, the headline maker who loves the moment when the pressure squeezes the air from your lungs, probably would save that victory for Augusta National.

He’s due. After all, Woods has gone four years since he won the 1997 Masters at 21. Tiger is still 10 short of Jack Nicklaus’ prediction that Woods would win more Masters titles than Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer combined for.

Woods never has met a challenge he didn’t like, so it’s not surprising that he says he already is thinking hard about the Masters. The tactic, he said, is about setting up your game so it’s primed four times a year, for each of the majors.

Because the Masters comes first, it’s first on Woods’ list. Maybe it’s going to be good for Woods that he has avoided the pitfall of peaking too early.

That’s one way to rationalize a winless streak.

Woods says the same things each time he is asked about the current state of his game. He’s not that far away. He just needs to make a few putts. He needs to get the ball closer to the hole. He knows what’s wrong with his swing, he just needs to correct it.

That’s another way to rationalize a winless streak.

As far as the slump issue goes, players’ slumps aren’t measured by weeks until they’re in double figures, at least. Woods should be treated the same way, but he isn’t.

So, welcome to Dubai, Tiger. Enjoy your week in the desert, shoot 30 under, collect your check, alert the accountant that he’s working overtime, then report directly to Florida and tee it up at Bay Hill. You have some business to take care of.

You know what to say.

Slump this!