Tiger Woods Looks Refreshed in Buick Open Win, but Are You Convinced?

He’s 35-1 when holding sole possession of the 54-hole lead.

Did you really think the likes of Roland Thatcher, Greg Chalmers, Matt Bettencourt, or Michel Letzig were going to go out and take down Tiger Woods this afternoon?

The large, rowdy galleries, the millions watching on television, Tiger Woods, and most importantly, the rest of the field all knew how this day would turn out long before the first tee shot was struck.

Woods had a firm grasp on the 2009 Buick Open when he arrived at Warwick Hills this afternoon, and only a Jack Fleck-esque miracle was going to stop him from capturing his third, and most likely his final, Buick Open title.

Buick is expected to announce sometime this week that they will discontinue their 51-year sponsorship of the Buick Open—and the PGA Tour, who is already picking up the tab for both the Bob Hope Classic and the St. Jude Classic in 2010, seem less than motivated to save yet another fledging golf tournament.

In all likelihood, the Buick Open clunked out for good the second Tiger Woods walked off the 18th green this evening.

Perhaps the PGA Tour can turn in their clunker, the Buick Open, for enough cash to keep a PGA Tour event in Flint, Michigan?

Tim Finchem may have to ask Barack Obama about that one.

But anyway, back to the golf.

Woods hit just 43 percent of fairways off the tee this afternoon and shot a three under par round of 69 on a course that can, at times, appear to be a pitch-and-putt for tour professionals.  

The birdie barrage that we all expected from Woods never arrived. He even made his way through the easiest stretch of the golf course—the 12th through the 14th—at even par.

Woods drove the ball to within 70 yards of the green at both the 340-yard par-four 12th and 322-yard par-four 14th, but was unable to get up-and-down for birdie on either hole.

Woods found the right side of the fairway on the par-five 13th, which happens to be the one spot you want to avoid at all costs due to the massive tree that obstructs your path to the green.

But when finding a fairway is as rare of an occurrence as it was for Woods today, you take what you can get.

Surprisingly, Woods decided to gamble with his two-stroke lead by attempting an exaggerated fade around the tree with a five-wood. Woods overcooked his fade and found the pond that was guarding the right side of the green.  

Woods still managed to get up-and-down for a par. But on a 544-yard par-four, a par would have felt like a bogey or worse.  

There was no single approach shot, up-and-down, or putt that can be pointed to as the moment Woods emphatically closed the door on the field.

As he has done so many times in the past, Woods simply did what he needed to do to win.

But then again, none of the players in “hot pursuit” of him this afternoon even ranked within the top 100 in the World Golf rankings.

Just to put that into perspective, Michael Sim, who is a member of the Nationwide Tour, is currently ranked 77th in the world.

As ridiculous as it is to say about a man who just won a PGA Tour event, Woods’ win at the Buick Open wasn’t overly convincing in terms of demonstrating that he has fully recovered from the now infamous missed cut at Turnberry. 

Sure, you may be tossing your arms up in the air after reading that last sentence. After all, the guy did just win his fourth event of the year.

But what we have to remember is that at this point of his career, Woods is not competing against Roland Thatcher, Greg Chalmers, Matt Bettencourt, or Michel Letzig; he’s competing against the likes of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Walter Hagan, and most of all, Jack Nicklaus.

At 33 years old and with 14 majors under his belt, Woods is chasing down records far more important than tying Vijay Singh for the most Buick Open wins in history.

More than anything else, a golfer’s career is measured by the number of major championships he’s won.

Woods may have been able to get away with an erratic driver and unpredictable putting stroke at the Buick Open. However, if he takes the same game to Hazeltine National Golf Club for the PGA Championship, which is set to begin in less than two weeks, he could very well go winless in the majors for the first time in five years.  

Woods is scheduled to attend next week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, where he has won six times.

Competing against a stronger field at a more difficult golf course next week should give us a better indication of exactly where Woods' game stands as he heads into the PGA Championship.