Bahama Hangover: Tiger Woods Has A Vegas Re-Run

This wasn’t what Tiger Woods had in mind.

This wasn’t the kind of opening day the host of the Hero World Challenge was looking for on Thursday, down there at the Albany Golf Club in the balmy Bahamas.

We’re talking a Bahama Hangover for Tiger Woods, a carry-over from the $9 million fiasco in Las Vegas.

One would think Tiger would be on Cloud Nine coming into this year-end get-rich-quick event for him and 17 of his PGA Tour buddies.  After all, they’re dividing up $3.5 million and there are only 18 guys on site, Tiger included.

Cloud Nine?  How’s that?  After all, Eldrick got fleeced by Phil Mickelson last week at Shadow Creek to the tune of $9 million.  Winner took all and Tiger wasn’t the winner.

Well, that $9 million was chump change when you consider the deal El Tigre struck this week with Discovery, the same group that agreed to fork out about $2 billion to the already filthy-rich PGA Tour.  Two billion for streaming content and other rights over in Europe and other countries not named the United States.

“Eight figures,” admitted Woods, as to the amount of his personal deal with Discovery.  Could be anywhere from 10 to 50 million.  Whatever the number, you can bet The Great Stiney, aka Mark Sternberg, agent to Tiger Woods, is basically going coo-coo for Coco-Puffs today.

So what’s Tiger going to do for all that moo-lah?

“We’re going to build content for everyone, whether you’ve been playing golf for a long time or just starting out. I’ll be sharing stories and giving insight into my approach that has never been seen before. This is such an exciting time for golf and for me, so to be part of the vision to grow the game all around the world is fantastic. I can’t wait to share my knowledge on GOLFTV,” Woods said.

“I want to talk to golf fans and golfers everywhere, directly, and straight from me. That’s important to me. Talking about what we care about: what’s happening on the course, how to play better, how can I shoot lower scores tomorrow, how can I beat my friends?  GOLFTV is for the fans and the players, a single place they’ll all want to go, and he’s building something everyone will want,” Woods continued.

“Getting the chance to do instruction is exciting.  I’ve always been focused on my own game and this experience can help players everywhere.  Whether you’re a long-time player or a beginner, there are some things that help us all play better.  It’s one way I want to give back to people who love the game like I do.  If I can help the next generation enjoy the game more and play better, that’s pretty special.”

So basically, Woods is going to provide:

Exclusive access into his preparation routines; Behind-the-scenes access before and after his  tournament rounds;  Unique and exclusive post-round commentary.

Everywhere except in the United States.

Which brings us back to Thursday in the Bahamas where Woods struggled mightily.  His putter acted up like it did in Vegas and his real undoing was at the par three 12th hole where he was just off the green, on a slope, short of the water hazard behind him, no big deal.  Worst he could possibly make was bogey, really, truly.  Alas, his first chip was chunky, the ball rolled back down the slope, into the water behind him.  Penalty shot, two drops then a placing of the ball.  Chipped the fourth six feet by the hole, missed the double-bogey putt.  Took triple.

And that about sums up Tiger’s day as he finished with a 73 and stuck an eight-iron to three feet and birdied the 18th to shoot that.  Only three guys in the 18-man field shot over par.  Woods was one, Xander Schauffele tied him and Hideki Matsuyama saved face for Tiger by shooting 74.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Tiger unveiled a new physical ailment that he says is actually an old physical ailment.

Last year it was his back as the big question mark.

Thursday he hit us with a new one — ankles!

“I’ve struggled with my ankles over the last few months. Still the same issues,” Woods rvealed  “They’ve just been sore for months,” he said, “just wear and tear.”

Ankles?  Ankles?

He’s gotta be kidding us.

Ankles?