Page 22 - ARUBA TODAY

A22 SPORTS
Tuesday 31 OcTOber 2017
Tiger Woods to return in Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas

By DOUG FERGUSON website. “Albany is the per- The deal stems from a Me-
AP Golf Writer fect setting and it will be morial Day arrest on a DUI
Play it again, Tiger Woods. great to join this outstand- charge when Woods was
For the second straight ing field.” found asleep at the wheel
year, Woods will return from The tournament has no cut. of his car, which was still
back surgery at his holiday A year ago, Woods re- running and parked at an
tournament in the Baha- turned after 15 months re- awkward angle about 15
mas the week after Thanks- covering from two back minutes from his home in
giving. surgeries. He made 24 bird- Florida.
Woods has not played ies, but finished 15th out of Woods attributed it to a
since he withdrew from the 18 players. The tournament bad combination of pre-
Dubai Desert Classic on is not official on any tour, al- scription medicine.
Feb. 3 with back spasms. though it does award world According to a toxicology
Two months later, he had ranking points. report, Woods had the ac-
his fourth back surgery in He made his first PGA Tour tive ingredient for mari-
just over two years. In this Friday, Jan. 27, 2017 file photo, Tiger Woods watches his start at Torrey Pines and juana, two painkillers, the
Woods will be part of the tee shot on the ninth hole of the North Course during the second missed the cut, and then sleep drug Ambien and the
18-man field at the Hero round of the Farmers Insurance Open golf tournament at Torrey went to Dubai and didn’t anti-anxiety drug Xanax in
World Challenge, which Pines Golf Course in San Diego. make it past the first round his system.
starts Nov. 30 at Albany Associated Press before his back began act- He completed a drug treat-
Golf Club. While sponsor Woods reported instant posting video on Twitter of ing up. ment program in July.
exemptions are limited to relief. He also said just one a full swing with an iron, a Woods made the an- Woods has 79 PGA Tour vic-
the top 50 in the world, month ago at the Presi- driver and then his signa- nouncement just three tories and 14 majors, both
Woods is exempt as the dents Cup that he had no ture stinger shot with the days after he pleaded second all-time, though
tournament host. idea what his future held. driver. guilty to reckless driving in he has not won since the
His latest procedure was a Doctors gave him clear- “I am excited to return to a deal that allows him to Bridgestone Invitational in
fusion surgery — the previ- ance to practice without competitive golf at the avoid jail time if he doesn’t August 2013 for his record
ous three were microdis- limitations about a week Hero World Challenge,” violate terms of his proba- 18th World Golf Champion-
cectomy surgeries — and later, and Woods had been Woods said in a story on his tion. ships title.q

Dustin Johnson

is No. 1 in the world for a book, he is 7-6, but three 1 player to lose a six-shot
reason — this is happening of those victories were only lead. Greg Norman had
far too often. three rounds because of what remains the most fa-
Pebble Beach was the first rain at Pebble Beach in mous collapse because of
time Johnson played a fi- 2009, high wind at Kapalua the stage, Augusta Nation-
nal round with the lead, by in 2011 and a hurricane at al in 1996, when he shot 78
three shots over Graeme The Barclays in 2013. and finished five shots be-
McDowell. That was gone Throw those out and he’s hind Nick Faldo.
when Johnson made tri- 4-6. Bobby Cruikshank shot an
ple bogey on the second Johnson spoke just long 80 to lose the 1928 Florida
hole and then lost a ball in enough Sunday to ac- Open. Hal Sutton shot a 77
the bushes trying to drive knowledge some of the to lose the 1983 Anheuser-
Dustin Johnson of United States gestures in the final round of the third green. Johnson mistakes that led to his Busch Classic. The other
the 2017 WGC-HSBC Champions golf tournament held at the learned that day to slow downfall, mainly chunking player to lose a six-shot
Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China, Sunday, down. a short iron for his second lead in the final round was
Oct. 29, 2017. There really hasn’t been shot on the par-5 14th that Gay Brewer. He closed
Associated Press another bad collapse since caused him to scramble for with a 73 in the 1969 Danny
Continued on Page 22 and he wasn’t particular- then. He had a two-shot par, and chunking another Thomas Diplomat Classic
ly close. The biggest putt lead at Doral in 2011 and one on the 15th that led to and was the victim of an
Instead of going to the tro- he made all round was a finished second, although a plugged lie in a bunker Arnold Palmer charge.
phy presentation on the 6-footer on the par-5 sec- the seven players within and a bogey. If there is cause for concern
third-floor balcony of the ond hole to save bogey three shots of him were all “That cost me two shots with Johnson, it’s his putter.
HSBC suite above the 18th after driving into the water. among the top 31 in the there,” he said. He switched models when
green at Sheshan Interna- Even more surprising is world ranking. The other And then he made bogey he won the BMW Champi-
tional, Johnson went into that Johnson is No. 1 in the times, he was tied for the on the 16th — he made ea- onship last year and used
the scoring room to sign for world with four victories this lead. gle there when he won the that putter through three
a 77. year. He is such an impos- Even so, for someone who HSBC Champions in 2013 — straight victories in the
It was his highest closing ing figure that a trio of ma- has piled up 16 victories, by hitting his tee shot to the spring that took him to No.
round with the 54-hole jor champions behind him one major and five World left into a buried lie in Ber- 1. He switched back to the
lead since his 82 at Peb- — Stenson, Justin Rose and Golf Championships in 10 muda rough and leaving putter that he used in 12
ble Beach in the 2010 U.S. Brooks Koepka — figured years on the PGA Tour, himself such a bad angle previous victories, including
Open. they were playing for sec- Johnson has not estab- that he could only ask for the U.S. Open. He brought
As collapses go, this was ond. lished himself as a great perfection on the next shot. a different putter with a
shocking for a couple rea- “Try and win the other golf closer. He missed by a yard. mallet head to China, and
sons. tournament,” said Rose, Not even close. “So I gave a few away,” he that lasted one round. He
Johnson had made 22 bird- who shot 67 and won the His record with at least a said. “But tough conditions. took possession of a fourth
ies through three rounds. real thing. share of the 54-hole lead I mean, it is what it is.” putter 15 minutes before he
He had none on Sunday, As great as Johnson is — he is hard to measure. By the Johnson is not the first No. shot 63 on Friday.q