The Tiger Woods bandwagon is on Kaua’i the next three days, even if he isn’t. For the fourth consecutive year, Woods, the world’s best golfer and arguably its most recognizable athlete, is the star attraction in the PGA Grand Slam
The Tiger Woods bandwagon is on Kaua’i the next three days, even if he
isn’t.
For the fourth consecutive year, Woods, the world’s best golfer and
arguably its most recognizable athlete, is the star attraction in the PGA Grand
Slam of Golf that begins tomorrow at Po’ipu Bay Golf Course.
The event
started unofficially this morning with the pro-am, a relatively non-competitive
mingling of professional and amateur players. Woods wasn’t one of them. Because
of travel complications from Thailand, where last weekend he won his 10th
tournament title of the year, he won’t arrive on Kaua’i until 6 a.m. tomorrow,
three hours before he and the other three competitors tee off in the two-day
Grand Slam.
A press conference that was scheduled this morning before the
pro-am was canceled after Woods’ non-involvement was learned. Like most events
that don’t involve him, without Woods, there’s no show.
It’s been that way
almost since Woods became the planet’s dominant professional golfer. His
superstardom was cemented this year with his victories in three of men’s pro
golf’s three major tournaments – the U.S. and British Opens and the PGA
Championship.
Po’ipu Bay Golf Course and Hyatt Regency Kaua’i Resort and
Spa, hosts of the Grand Slam, have been on Tiger alert since Woods won his way
into the tourney’s field again. He’s won it each of the past two years and
finished second once.
Tournaments in which Woods competes draw bigger
galleries and gain more television exposure. The Grand Slam will be no
different, with TNT Sports televising it tomorrow and Wednesday to more than
100 countries. The telecasts could reach as many as 77 million homes in the
United States alone, according to TNT.
Galleries will be limited to 6,000
spectators each day. To get in, they’ll pay $40 for the three days including
the pro-am, or $20 apiece for the Grand Slam rounds Tuesday and Wednesday.
Children 18-and-under will be admitted free with a ticket-buying adult.
Admission was $10 for adults for the pro-am.
“We are thrilled to continue
our relationship” with the Professional Golfers Association (PGA), said Jerry
Gibson, general manager of Hyatt Regency. He described the Grand Slam as “one
of the most prestigious events in all of golf.”
Competing with Woods for
the $1 million purse will be Masters champion Vijay Singh, Paul Azinger and Tom
Lehman.
Editor Pat Jenkins can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) and
[pjenkins@pulitzer.net]
