To the background noise of high-powered crickets, large practice-day crowds waited patiently at Valhalla GC yesterday in temperatures climbing into the high-80s. But Tiger Woods clearly saw no great need for an early return, having made a secret visit last Tuesday on his way to the Buick Open in Michigan.
Woods finished with rounds of 67 and 68 at Warwick Hills for a share of 11th place behind Rocco Mediate - a quiet performance by the elevated standards of the world's number one. But it has done nothing to dampen the palpable excitement here at the possibility of his retaining the USPGA Championship next weekend.
Even his keenest rivals make no attempt to dilute the American's extraordinary impact on the game. "I want to play where Tiger is playing," said Mediate in the wake of victory. "I don't want to duck him. I am not going to beat him for a career, but I beat him this week."
Lee Westwood, who had the satisfaction of finishing four strokes ahead of Woods when capturing the Deutsche Bank Open last May, took a similar view here yesterday. "He has lent a whole new dimension to the achievement of winning," said the 27-yearold Englishman. "It means so much more to win when he's in the field.
"With people expressing the view that he is the greatest player who ever lived, it can't be bad to reach a high standing at such a time. And there is no point in trying to pretend he's not the dominant figure in the game. I know that if I'm to win here, I will probably have to beat Tiger coming down the stretch. That's a thrilling prospect."
Westwood, winner of four of his last nine tournaments, went on to marvel at the extraordinary composure of a player who has been described as a genetic miracle. "I can learn from his technique, which is wonderful, but I believe I can learn more from simply looking at how he handles himself," he said. "Given the sort of pressures he's under, being in the public eye all the time, he displays wonderful mental strength."
He went on: "By comparison, I don't have any pressures. For instance, I went to a multiplex cinema in Sheffield last week and nobody noticed. When was the last time Tiger could do something like that? You certainly couldn't imagine him doing down to the local for a pint."
Having become the youngest winner of all four professional major championships through his victory in the British Open at St Andrews last month, Woods is now aiming to equal Ben Hogan's achievement of 1953 by winning three majors in the same year.
He was in his last days in amateur ranks when the USPGA was played here in 1996, so he had no experience of the course. That omission was rectified last week when, on an unheralded visit, he played with the local assistant professional, Brian Gaffney.
Describing it as a typical, Jack Nicklaus-designed course, Woods said: "You're given room off the tee but it's a little more challenging coming into the green. You have to hit fairways and you can spin the ball off the slopes of the greens, let it roll an extra 10 or 15 feet, which is what you normally do if you're playing well. The greens become bigger because you can use the slopes to bring the ball into the hole."
According to Gaffney, he seems to have coped rather well, given his five birdies on the front nine, having started on the 10th. "What impressed me most about Tiger was that he seems to be a good guy," said Gaffney. "When I told him it was a treat to play with him, he replied `Oh no. We're here to have fun'."
He went on: "I just stayed out of the way and when I hit a poor drive or a shot into rough, Tiger would encourage me to keep it going. His swing is so smooth it looks as if he's waving at the ball and all of his iron shots were floating down like rain. And he seemed to be putting for a birdie from 10 feet at every hole."
Ireland's three challengers, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley are expected to see the course for the first time today. Clarke is the first of them into action in the opening round on Thursday morning in a three-ball with Sergio Garcia and Lee Janzen at 8.55 a.m. local time (1.55 p.m. Irish time).
McGinley is in a three-ball with Americans Franklin Langham and Andrew Magee at 10.43 a.m. (3.43 p.m.) while Harrington is off at 11.55 (4.55) with Stewart Cink and Steve Pate.
