Tiger pursuers closing gap

Tiger pursuers closing gap
Agence France Presse

Melbourne, February 14: The gap between golf’s phenomenon Tiger Woods and his pursuers is closing, according to Spanish star Sergio Garcia.

Woods, 25, has set benchmark in golf with unprecedented success at a young age.

The American won three of last year’s four Majors, including record wins in the US and British Opens, as well as 12 events world-wide and over $10 million in prize money.

His British Open triumph at St Andrews made him the youngest golfer ever to complete a professional career Grand Slam and he was a near unanimous choice around the world for ‘Sportsmen of the year’ awards.

‘‘The gap, not only between me, but with all the players, is getting smaller,’’said the 21-year-old today ahead of this week’s Australian Masters at Huntingdale.‘‘We’re all trying hard, practising hard, we’re trying to improve as much as we can now with the new titleist ball, the titleist guys have a lot more chances,’’ he said.‘‘But it’s tough because he has played last two to three years at a very high level, but he’s given us a little shot.

‘‘We had to improve to beat him, so that’s what we’re all trying to do.’’ He said the new titleist golf ball was going further from the tee than previous balls and it had a higher flight and more spinning capabilities upon landing on the green.

Garcia, who lost to 19-year-old Australian Aaron Baddeley in a sudden death playoff finish to last Sunday’s Greg Norman International in Sydney after incurring a two-stroke penalty for an incorrect drop, said the indications were that the field was closing in on the great Tiger.

‘‘You can start to see that happening. He hasn’t won yet (this year) and maybe he’s not playing as well as he did last year.’’

Greg Norman is not here this week, but organisers have brought out Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie, who was Europe’s No. 1 player for a record seven years until Englishman Lee Westwood’s success last year. ‘‘I haven’t really performed for about eight months and I felt it was about time I did,” said Montgomerie today.“I would like to win down here. I have not won here before and I would like to achieve that.”

Baddeley, a dual Australian Open champion and Huntingdale club member, is backing up after his euphoric win in Sydney and will be supported by other young Australian contenders, Adam Scott and Scott Gardiner.

Scott pipped England’s Justin Rose in the Alfred Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg last month for his first win as a professional in his ninth event on the European Tour since joining the paid ranks in June last season.