Woods heads all-star cast
Six of the world’s top 10, seven major winners boasting 21 major titles, three former champions, nearly half of next week’s European Ryder Cup side.
After years of talk about who is not playing rather than who is, there is no question of the strength of the 16-man field competing from tomorrow for golf’s biggest first prize of £1m (€1.5m) in the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth.
But one player currently stands head and shoulders above the rest and is the main reason why it seems certain there will be record crowds for the start of a three-week golfing bonanza in Britain and Ireland.
Tiger Woods is that player and, as he prepares for his return to an event he last graced in 1998, it is perhaps no bad time for a reminder of how much he has achieved in his first 10 years as a professional.
Winner of his last five tournaments and the last two majors, Woods tees off in the first round against fellow American Shaun Micheel in pursuit of his ninth victory in 16 starts this season and the 72nd of his career.
This is the 30-year-old’s 245th event since he left the amateur ranks and he has had a simply staggering 173 top 10 finishes already, with on-course earnings - a mere fraction of what he collects outside golf – in excess of €60m.
We live in different times, naturally, but Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player earned only around £5m between them in their US Tour careers and Woods will – for the second year running – pocket more than that this season.
His latest winning run – one short of equalling the best of his career – began at Hoylake in July when he was only one off his own Open championship record with his 18-under-par total.
Woods followed that with four 66s to take the Buick Open, then matched the PGA Championship scoring record – one he already shared with Bob May – when he posted another 18-under aggregate at Medinah.
He also holds the records for the Masters and US Open.
A week later, he did at least need a play-off to beat Ryder Cup teammate Stewart Cink at the Bridgestone Invitational world championship, but a fortnight after that he cruised past Vijay Singh with a closing 63 to add the Deutsche Bank title.
Now he has the chance to earn €6m from six starts and the opportunity to head to the K Club next week with a new title to add to his collection.
On his one previous World Match Play appearance eight years ago, Woods lost in the final to Mark O’Meara. He had only one major title to his name then, but now he has 12, second in the all-time list to Nicklaus’ 18.
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