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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015 SPORTS Tiger proves is can still draw a crowd SCOTTSDALE: By the time Tiger Woods camp long after the PGA Tour leaves the belt and get a feel for it.” It’s also not the sometimes it’s hard to trust. This is a Few believed what they saw that day, made the turn in the opening round of Arizona desert. first time Woods has expressed similar similar grind I used to use back in the and Woods would go on to win the a year that means so much for so many The 2-over 73 wasn’t exactly what thoughts. Anyone who has followed early 2000s, but it’s a different grind. Masters for his fourth straight major. reasons, he had already stubbed one Woods had in mind when he decided to Woods in recent years has heard him say Some of my shots were into the green He’s now won 14 of them, the last com- chip and bladed another. Things had begin his year with a trip to a tourna- the same kind of things about trusting with tight pins, and either I’ll flop it or ing at Torrey Pines in 2008. gotten so bad that he twice took to ment he hasn’t played in 14 years. Not his swing, and working his way through bump it, one of the two. I chose to Contrast that to this year when the using the putter from well off the green, on an overcast day where there were the rust, but it’s now been a long seven bump it.” Got that? There will be a quiz 73 marked the fifth consecutive round lest he mess up his day even more. low scores to be had on TPC Scottsdale. years since he last won a major champi- at the Masters, where tentative chippers on the PGA Tour that Woods hasn’t bro- He hadn’t given up, though, and nei- But it could have been worse, much onship. don’t last long around tightly mown col- ken par. It was also the first time he ther had the fans, who swarmed loudly worse. And for that Woods could be And whether Woods will allow him- lection areas and undulating greens. opened a year with a score over par around the Phoenix Open in record happy, despite a short game that looked self to believe it or not, his latest prob- If this was an unusual place for since turning pro nearly two decades numbers. As he walked the gauntlet more like it belonged to a tourist play- lems might be tougher to fix than a Woods to begin his season, it wasn’t ago. between the nines, they pleaded with ing the course, not the greatest player missing tooth. Driving the ball sideways altogether unfamiliar. He was here An iron shot to tap-in eagle on the Woods to do something, anything, to of his era. is one thing, and Woods did hit it way- under much different circumstances in par-5 13th might give him some hope of make both his day and theirs a little bet- If he needed something to convince ward a few times Thursday in only his 2001, where he was coming off three better times ahead. So will the drive to ter. himself he could still play after injuries second competitive tournament in six major championship wins in a row and 20 feet on the par-4 17th hole. “You got this, Tiger!” one yelled. “Go and yet another swing change, he could months. But resorting to hit chips with a getting ready to go for the Tiger Slam in But on this day the only thing resem- get ‘em on the back nine!” another hang his hat on playing the last six 4-iron because you don’t trust yourself the Masters. bling the Tiger Woods of old were the shouted out. holes in 3-under par. with a wedge in hand is almost unheard He opened with a 65 that year, but huge galleries following him at all times, Two brilliant shots that brought back “It’s not the first time I have gone of in the top echelon of professional that wasn’t the big story. It came in the on a day when an estimated record memories of the Tiger of old helped through this,” Woods said. “It takes time. golf. “I’m just having a hard time finding second round when a remarkable streak crowd of 118,461 came out to watch his Woods do just that Thursday. They also It’s just a frustrating thing where I just the bottom,” Woods said. “Because of my of shooting par or better over 52 season debut. If nothing else, Tiger helped him avert the kind of disaster need to get through competitive old pattern, I was so steep on it, that I straight rounds came to an end when Woods still knows how to draw a that might have been felt by the Woods rounds. I need to get rounds under my have a new grind on my wedge and Woods struggled to a 73. crowd.—AP Juve spurn chance for nine-point lead MILAN: Juventus spurned the chance to go nine points clear of title challengers Roma in a score- less draw away to Udinese yesterday, as Napoli crept closer to second place in Serie A. On a day of several surprises in Italy’s top flight, Juve failed to capitalise after Roma’s fourth consecutive draw on Saturday as Udinese held on to end a six-game losing streak to the Turin giants to leave them seven points in front of Roma. Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri lament- ed his side’s poor first-half display, but admitted they were ultimately lucky to escape with a point. “In the first half we played badly, gave pos- session away far too often and they put up a wall in defence and tried to hit us on the counter- attack,” he told Sky Sport. “There was improvement in the second half but it wasn’t easy because Udinese were playing with a lot of intensity. It was a fair result because we also risked losing this game.” Rafael Benitez’s Napoli held on for a precious GERMANY: Bremen’s Theodor Gebre Selassie (left) and Berlin’s Nico Schulz challenge 2-1 win at Chievo to finish the weekend as the for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match. —AP only top-five side to take all three points, tight- ening their grip on third place to now sit just four behind Roma, who were held 1-1 by Empoli Di Santos double on Saturday. Both Sampdoria and Lazio saw their respective bids for a third-place finish dented by lifts Bremen respective defeats to Torino and Cesena. Samuel Eto’o’s debut for Sampdoria, the Cameroonian BERLIN: Argentina striker Franco di Santos Veltins Arena when midfielder Marco replacing Eder on 71 minutes, ended in a chas- marked his return from injury with both Hoeger slotted his shot past Hanover’s tening 5-1 defeat away to Torino, with former goals as Werder Bremen climbed out of the Germany goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella notably hit- relegation places in yesterday’s 2-0 win with 32 minutes gone. ting a hat-trick to send Giampiero Ventura’s side over Hertha Berlin. The win lifted Di Matteo’s Schalke, who up to ninth in the table. The ex-Chelsea and Wigan forward, who face holders Real Madrid in the last 16 of Humbled Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic missed the final few league games of 2014 the Champions League next month, up to told Sky Sport: “I want to say sorry to the fans, I with a knee injury, produced two clinical fourth in the table. hold my hands up for this terrible performance strikes either side of half-time to give Pep Guardiola’s Bayern had their lead today. I’m the one who is responsible. Werder the three points which lifted them cut to eight points on Friday when they suf- “But the players should be taking a long hard from 16th to 12th. fered a shock 4-1 hammering at second- look at themselves. It was embarrassing but... I Defeat at Bremen drops Hertha to 15th placed VfL Wolfsburg as the Bundesliga would always prefer to lose 5-1 once than five and just above the relegation zone, but resumed after the winter break. games 1-0. “I can only take my hat off to Ventura things remain tight at the foot of the table Borussia Moenchengladbach went third and to his team. They were superior on all with just three points separating the bot- in the league on Saturday after Patrick fronts.” tom six teams. Herrmann netted their second-half goal in Samp’s slip proved costly, especially in the On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over VfB Stuttgart, who dropped light of Napoli’s 2-1 away win over Chievo which slipped back to the bottom for the first to second from bottom. tightened their grip on the last Champions time since November despite picking up a Herrmann drilled home Branimir League qualifying position. point in their goalless draw at fellow Hrgota’s swirling cross 20 minutes from Manolo Gabbiadini helped give the visitors Champions League side Bayer Leverkusen’s time to move Lucien Favre’s side up behind an 18th minute lead when his shot came off the BayArena. “That was an important point.

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