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A18 SPORTS
Thursday 25 april 2019

Tour better equipped for new round of Tigermania

Continued from Page 17 a chance of getting him
because the tournament
“I wouldn’t have had those Woods hosted in Washing-
calls had he not won the ton was the following week.
Masters,” Mele said Tues- It created its own identity
day. through building strong re-
The buzz Woods generated lationships with young stars
from winning a fifth green and since has attracted
jacket is as big as ever. some of the best — Rory
His schedule figures to be McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Jus-
as small as ever. tin Thomas — with Koepka,
Still to be determined is Day and Francesco Moli-
whether that presents the nari expected this year.
problem of a generation The stock question for ev-
ago when the PGA Tour ery tournament — “Is Ti-
schedule was largely di- ger playing?” — does not
vided between the tourna- seem as make-or-break as
ments Woods played and it once did.
those he didn’t. “That happened a lot more
“The haves and have- in ‘07 and ‘08,” said Nathan
nots,” said Mele, who expe- Grube, in his 14th year as
rienced both sides of it as tournament director of The
the longtime tournament Travelers. “When the field
director of the tour’s New started getting stronger
York event. “When he was and stronger, we stopped
struggling with his health, it getting that question.”
was more of a curiosity if he Eight players have been
played. Now with the buzz Tiger Woods reacts as he wins the Masters golf tournament Sunday, April 14, 2019, in Augusta, Ga. No. 1 since Woods was last
after the Masters ... it’s the Associated Press there in 2013. Seven players
way it used to be back in first wave of Tigermania. He would have taken Tiger,” dozen deep behind some — five younger than Woods
the day.” became tournament direc- Hougham said. “I’m not tee boxes. And that was six — have won multiple ma-
Even when he was young tor of the John Deere Clas- sure that’s the feeling of months before he returned jors in the 11 years Woods
and healthy, Woods never sic the year after Woods every tournament because to winning. went without a major.
played more than 21 times made his pro debut (and every tournament has a dif- Any tournament would “What happened two
in a PGA Tour season. He never returned). Hougham ferent personality. Most title love to have Woods, espe- weeks ago changes the
played 18 times on the PGA later ran the Wells Fargo sponsors would have done cially now that his Masters dynamic,” Hougham said.
Tour last year, adding a few Championship until last that because that’s when moments — the cheers, the “He’s back on top. But with
tournaments for which he year, which Woods missed the media shows up, and chants, the emotion — are the change in schedule,
was not eligible at the start only three times when it’s on the front page of the so fresh and won’t be for- the fields are deeper. The
of the year. healthy. sports page. gotten. tour did a nice job build-
Woods had said even A decade ago, offer a tour- “If you had your choice, But that doesn’t mean it’s ing up a lot of these kids. ...
before this year started nament director Woods you’d take Tiger.” Tiger or bust. And they’ve earned their
he would not be playing and no one else from the The Valspar Champion- Even if the new Minnesota way up there. They were
as much. He is 43. Good top 10 in the world, or eight ship discovered his value event doesn’t get Woods, not in Tiger’s shadow, but
health is no longer taken for of the top 10 minus Woods, a year ago when Woods it already has an All-Star their own sunlight. And the
granted. and it was an obvious added the Florida event to lineup. sun is bright enough now. I
Kym Hougham remembers choice. his schedule and the gal- The Travelers Champion- don’t think Tiger is going to
what it was like during the “Back in those days, most lery at Innisbrook stood a ship never had much of overshadow them.”q

Nadal rallies to beat Mayer

in 3 sets in Barcelona Open

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — 6-3, 6-1 in his second-round day that’s the main thing,”
Rafael Nadal recovered match. Nadal said. “(Mayer) com-
from a slow start to defeat The top-seeded Nadal petes well against every-
Leonard Mayer 6-7 (7), 6-4, squandered three set body but probably today
6-2 and advance to the points in the first set, includ- (the problem) was not that
third round of the Barce- ing two in the tiebreaker af- he competed very well
lona Open on Wednesday, ter exchanging breaks late against me. I was not com-
keeping alive his streak of in the set. He rebounded peting that well.”
never losing consecutive quickly by breaking May- Fognini won’t be able to
matches on clay. er’s serve in the first game add to his Monte Carlo win
An 11-time champion in of the second set, then after withdrawing from the
Barcelona, Nadal will next cruised to victory against Barcelona tournament be-
play fellow Spaniard David the 63rd-ranked Argentine. cause of a hamstring injury.
Ferrer. “It wasn’t the best start. He was replaced by 104th-
Spain’s Rafael Nadal returns the ball against Argentina’s The 37-year-old Ferrer, who Not the best feelings out ranked Roberto Carballes
Leonardo Mayer during a men’s singles match at the Barcelona is playing in Barcelona for there this afternoon, but I Baena, who opened with
Open Tennis Tournament in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April
24, 2019. the last time, defeated found a way to keep going a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 win over
Associated Press 15th-seeded Lucas Pouille and to win the match. To- Nicola Kuhn.q