A great frontrunner in front early makes this PGA Championship easy to handicap

Woods has good reason to look ahead in PGA

CHASKA, Minn. — Tiger Woods barely had a chance to down a post-round bottle of Gatorade Tiger, and already he was thinking ahead. The weather report for Friday’s second round in the PGA Championship was in, and it was clear Woods liked the idea of strong winds raking Hazeltine Country Club while others try to catch him from behind.

By the weekend he should have his plan to win a gold medal in the 2016 Olympics down, too. Woods will be 40 by the time he gets a shot at Olympic glory, but by then he will have long since been declared the greatest golfer ever and it will give him some incentive to get off his yacht and take on a new challenge.

Most in golf would crown Woods right now, if only he would sit still long enough for the coronation. The things he has done for himself and the sport are staggering, but he’s not about to name himself the best until he stands on the 18th green somewhere holding major championship trophy No. 19.

The way he cruised through the opening round of the PGA on Thursday, that time will not be far away.

Hold off on the engraving on the Wanamaker trophy just for now. This is Minnesota, after all, so there’s always a chance for a tornado or a freak August snowstorm to hit.

Barring that or Woods hitting a sleeve of balls into the Hazeltine Lake, though, No. 15 is in the bag.

Woods himself said so after his seemingly effortless 67 on a monster of a course gave him his first lead after the opening round of a major in four years. Well, maybe he didn’t come right out and say it, but it doesn’t take much to read between the lines.

‘When I’m playing well,” Woods said, “I usually don’t make that many mistakes.”

Hopefully, the other players weren’t listening. They usually genuflect when Woods walks by anyway, and it wouldn’t look good for them to just up and quit before the tournament reaches the weekend.

Actually, one did. John Daly showed up in wild pants, then played some wild golf before claiming a back injury and heading out of town in his custom RV.

The fact is nobody beats Woods when he gets out in front in a major, and he got out in front in this one so early that they barely had time to show him on television. The margin may only be a stroke over Padraig Harrington, but the message his flawless opening round sent made it seem even bigger.

Woods is statistically a stroke a round better than his nearest challenger even in a year he’s been making mistakes — and a lot of them. But he didn’t make many while winning his last two tournaments and he didn’t on this day, hitting fairway after fairway and green after green on his way to five birdies.

There was none of the wildness that plagued him off the tee at the other three majors this year, none of the frustration that cost him a lost weekend at the British Open.

Just cool, collected golf.

“No big tee shots way right or way left or anything like that,” playing partner Rich Beem said. “It was easy.”

The huge crowds that lined fairways 10 to 20 deep certainly appreciated the effort. Minnesotans love their golf and anyone who appreciates great talent has to love what Woods has done for the sport.

Those behind golf’s inclusion in the Olympics have to be loving him even more. Without Woods’ enthusiastic endorsement, it’s hard to imagine that the sport would have won a recommendation Thursday from the International Olympic Committee that all but assured golf a spot in the 2016 Games.

Just why Woods likes the idea is easy to see. As the face of the sport he stands to profit most if the Olympics spurs golf to take off in countries like, shall we say, China. He’ll get the endorsement contracts and course design deals that will add even more millions to his already fat bank accounts.

But it’s more than the money. Jack Nicklaus and his 18 majors were always the target on Woods’ bedroom wall growing up in Southern California, but even as great as Nicklaus was, he never won an Olympic gold.

It’s one more thing that will separate Woods from Nicklaus, one more conquest that will keep others behind him from ever matching his feats on the golf course.

For now, though, there are more immediate concerns. There’s a major to be won, and a season to be redeemed.

Woods believes he is playing the best golf of his life, and it’s hard to argue the point.

After all, he’s spent a career making everyone else believers, too.

____

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg (at)ap.org