GOLF: Tiger Woods may not play competitive golf again until next month's American Express World Championship at Mount Juliet, which takes place the week immediately before the Ryder Cup.
The world's number one has just completed a three-week stint on the road - during which time he finished first-second-fourth - and insists he needs some breathing space before resuming play again.
After finishing fourth to Australia's Craig Parry in the NEC Invitational, the second of four legs in the World Golf Championship series, Woods remarked: "I'm taking some time off. I've worked pretty hard these last three weeks.
"Actually, the last four weeks, getting ready for at least three weeks. I've played golf just about every day. And it's time to put the clubs up for a little bit and rest and recoup and then fire back up again."
In his build-up for the British Open at Muirfield last month, Woods took in a practice round of golf at Mount Juliet - where the AmEx tournament takes place on September 19th-22nd - and, although he has yet to officially enter, there seems little doubt that he will be there.
Indeed, after his runners-up finish in the US PGA last week, Woods commented that he had "two big tournaments, both world championship events, coming up".
And United States Ryder Cup captain Curtis Strange made reference at Hazeltine to the fact that only one of his team, Hal Sutton, would not be playing in Ireland.
Sutton's absence is due to the fact that he has slipped outside the top 50 players in the official world rankings.
Entry to the American Express championship - a strokeplay event - is limited to the top 50 players in the world rankings on September 9th next, along with the money winners on the six recognised world tours.
As things stand, five members of the European team - Paul McGinley, Jesper Parnevik, Phillip Price, Pierre Fulke and Lee Westwood - are outside the qualifying criteria.
One man who guaranteed his presence in the field for Co Kilkenny is Parry, the surprise winner of the NEC Invitational at Sahalee, near Seattle, on Sunday.
Parry closed with a six-under-par 65 for a 72-holes total of 268, giving him a four-stroke winning margin over compatriot Robert Allenby and Fred Funk. Woods finished a shot further back in fourth.
The four Irish players in the field didn't contend: Darren Clarke finished tied-19th ($50,400); Padraig Harrington tied-47th ($32,550); Graeme McDowell tied-52nd ($31,250), and McGinley 67th ($27,250).
Known on tour as "Popeye," because of his muscular similarity to the cartoon character, Parry had previously finished runner-up on four occasions and third on another four occasions since joining the US Tour a decade ago. He had previously played on the European Tour.
"I've been knocking on the door for a long time, and it is great to finally win," he said. "I just always knew it was just a matter of time, being at the right place at the right time."
Just as Rich Beem did a week previously in winning in Hazeltine, Parry also left Woods in his wake. But he insisted: "Tiger is the best player in the world. What can you say? He hits shots no one else can hit. If he plays good, we're struggling. If he plays average, someone can beat him."
However, the win, which gave him a cheque for $1 million, represented the biggest of Parry's career - which has seen him win 20 times worldwide - and he admitted: "Well, I suppose it's like a major, because these are the best players in the world.
It will sink in, obviously, in a couple of weeks' time. A win is a win. I suppose I'm a millionaire now . . . although the Australian government said 'thank you'. They get half of it."
Parry's win makes up for a number of near-misses, most notably in the 1992 US Masters when he held a two-shot lead after three rounds only to eventually finish tied-13th.
"Two weeks later (after the Masters) I finished third at Greensboro. I've had guys like Tom Lehman go birdie, birdie to beat me at Colonial.
"Phil Mickelson chipped in at the Byron Nelson one year on 16 for eagle. I think he ended up beating me by a shot. Nick Price was the hottest golfer in the '90s. He got me down at the Honda.
"And it was just a matter of the other guys were just doing that little bit extra and beating me. Now, I've done that to everyone else, and that's good."
