Capelle On Golf

Tiger Woods reminds me of the line from that tune in Damn  Yankees – “Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets.”

Woods wanted WGR points for his Chevron World Challenge, and now the event, with its super small field of 18 players, awards them. Graeme McDowell, last year’s winner, was awarded (gifted) 50 WGR points for edging out Woods for the win in a dramatic one hole playoff.

Woods left far from empty handed with 30 big points for his second place finish. Even with points erosion, that runner up is still worth 17.28 points. If we subtracted those ridiculous points, his WGR would drop from 52nd to 63rd!

Woods has finished first four times and second four times in nine starts at Sherwood. He finished second last year while only five months into his Foley Swing overhaul. Now he claims that he finally understands his new swing, a fact that is backed up by his recent spate of improved play, including his super strong performance in his singles match at the recent Presidents Cup.

So, a forecast of a win or second this week seems reasonable. If he “earns” 50 WGR points like McDowell last year, he would jump into the Top 20! If he finishes second and gets 30 points, he would shoot up into about the 25th position.

Let’s say Woods wins. He would be about the 19th ranked player in the world. Now, if we subtract out these points for this Silly Season event, he would be 63rd, as I mentioned above.

Something just seems wrong about this – that counting this tournament in the WGR could have such a huge impact on Woods’ WGR.