ROCHESTER, New York, 13 August 2003 — The difference between a good and a great season, says Tiger Woods, is seeing a major victory beside his name at the end of the year. This week will represent the American’s last chance of making his season great.
With the word “slump” hanging in the air, Woods arrived at Oak Hills in his private jet on Sunday for the PGA Championship in danger of finishing a campaign without a major for the first time since 1998.
Despite a delayed start to the season caused by knee surgery, Woods has won four of the 13 tournaments he has entered but is without a major win since lifting the US Open last year.
Walter Hagen is the only golfer to go five straight seasons registering at least one major victory, a string of success that ran from 1924 to 1929.
While Woods laughs off any suggestion that he is mired in a slump, the media insists he is, pointing to some uncharacteristically erratic play. But slumps it seems, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. “As far as a slump for Tiger, that’s just one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard,” said Jeff Sluman, the local favorite to lift the season’s final major following Monday’s opening practice round.
“Until yesterday he was still the leading money winner and won four times. I’ll take that slump any day.”
Woods’ previous longest run without a major stretched from the 1997 US Open to the 1999 PGA. The world No. 1 can mute the current panic sweeping through his fans and blunt media questions about another tailspin with a victory at Oak Hill.
Despite his recent string of failures at the majors Woods remains the man to beat this week and the player everyone will be keeping a close eye on. “I think if you asked everybody in the field you would probably get about 90 percent response on that,” said Sluman. A controversial switch of driver from Nike — who will contribute over $100 million to his bank account over the next five years — to Titleist and a second place finish to Jim Furyk at the Buick Open will have injected Woods with some optimism when play begins tomorrow.
