by Ian De Cotta
Published at 9:37 am, November 3, 2011
Tiger Woods meets the press at the Marina Bay Sands, Nov 3. Photo by Don Wong.
On a 48-hour stopover in Singapore, Tiger Woods may have appeared all smiles (and somewhat sleepy), but it was clear the golfing icon was bristling.
The former world No 1 has come under fire after he was picked for the United States team for the President’s Cup in Melbourne from Nov 14-20 by captain Fred Couples, despite having fallen out of the top 50 for the first times in years.
Woods told the media at Marina Bay Sands that his poor recent form is no indication of his capabilities. The American said he will go to Australia and will be motivated by the criticism. “I’ve never played the course before, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Speaking about his stay in Singapore, Woods said: “I’ve only been here on a stopover before, so I’d never actually seen the city, before but it’s actually incredible. It’s just remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it, I was very surprised by how modern it is.”
He said he had been “chilling out, having fun, looking at the city” on his stay here. Tantalisingly, he added that he would be visiting some golf courses here – which might even lead to some golf course design projects, though he would not elaborate further.
by Philip Goh
Published at 8:12 pm, September 12, 2011
It was an interesting golfing weekend for Singapore to say the least. An Asian Tour event – the ISPS Handa Singapore Classic – saw five players finishing on top of the leaderboard with the winner eventually emerging at the sixth playoff hole.
The interest for local fans, however, was firmly on two young men that look like the future of Singapore golf.
Lam Zhiqun topped the local honours with rounds of 70, 69, 68 and 67 that gave him a share of eighth spot at 6-under par while Quincy Quek tied for 11th, one shot adrift.
Tiger Woods’ slump in the World Golf Rankings may have made the headlines but what was more pleasing to golf fans is that the man himself has announced his possible return to the golf course at the upcoming Bridgestone Invitational.
And it’s about time. The fact that it was Tiger’s position that dominated the story reinforces the belief that despite all the controversy he has been through, people still want to read about him, know his every move and have an opinion on everything and anything he is in the news for. For the record England’s Luke Donald topped the list.
In Tiger’s absence it has been encouraging and very welcome to see the sport become more international after Darren Clarke claimed the British Open title and fellow Northern Irishmen Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell taking three of the past six major titles and reigniting the passion in Europe.
But casual golf fans are just not going to get excited watching Northern Ireland’s best claim all the titles. They want a global icon, a true golfing celebrity, a golfing god even. They want Tiger Woods. Continue reading ‘Get that fan a Tiger!’
