Woods says not fired up by talk of "Tiger taming"
Tiger Woods has often been fired up by adverse comments in the past but appeared to shrug off claims by Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano that he was beatable at this week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Woods, whose world ranking has slipped from number one to 20th, will face the 48th-ranked Spaniard in Wednesday's opening round at Dove Mountain.
"I feel exactly the same way as he does," three-times Match Play champion Woods told reporters on Tuesday (Wednesday, PHL time) before setting off to practice. "I feel he's beatable, too."
Asked whether he was especially motivated by what other players said about him, he replied: "It used to quite a bit when I was younger but as I've matured I've gone beyond that....
Keegan Bradley fights idiosyncrasies
MARANA, Ariz. -- If living up to the promise that he displayed in his win at the 2011 PGA Championship were not enough pressure, Keegan Bradley now has to conquer spitting and slow play. In a Twitter post on Monday, the 25-year-old Woodstock, Vt., native apologized to fans for his obsessive spitting during the final round of the Northern Trust Open.
"It's like a reflex. I don't even know I'm doing it, but it's a longtime habit I've got to try to conquer," Bradley tweeted.
On Wednesday, the former St. Johns University star will face two-time WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy in the first round. A year ago, Bradley was an unheralded rookie off the Nationwide Tour. A place among the top 64 players in the world at the Match Play seemed far off. But then came his wins at the Byron Nelson and the PGA....
Tiger Woods readies for Match Play
MARANA, Ariz. -- Tiger Woods will face Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in his first-round match on Wednesday in the WGC-Accenture Match Play at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain.
And while the 36-year-old Woods, owner of 14 major titles and a three-time Match Play winner, would seem to have the edge on his opponent, Woods isn't taking anything for granted.
"Anybody can win any match," Woods said. "Anybody can beat anybody at this level."...
Hard task for 'Big Easy' Els at Match Play
Ernie Els never expected it to be easy after being gifted a spot in this week's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when Phil Mickelson withdrew from the event to spend time with his family.
As the lowest-ranked player in the elite field of 64, South African Els has the daunting task of taking on British world number one and defending champion Luke Donald in Wednesday's (Thursday, PHL time) opening round.
"I'm really fortunate to be here," triple major winner Els told reporters at Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on Monday. "Being the last guy in, I've got to play the first seed, Luke Donald, and it's a tough match, like all matches here....
Odd man out Bill Haas rolls at Riviera
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. -- Bill Haas, the 2011 FedEx Cup Champion and Tour Championship winner, is not an underdog or an overachiever or any of those other adjectives used to describe people who win when they aren't supposed to. He's not like Jeremy Lin, the current poster boy of overachieving athletes. No coach overlooked Haas as he was coming up through the ranks of junior golf and at Wake Forest.
As a son of Jay Haas, a nine-time PGA Tour winner, he was supposed to make it. But on Sunday at the Northern Trust Open, he must have felt like the odd man out in the three-way playoff with Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. It was Phil's tournament to win and if he didn't win then everybody wanted his protégé, Bradley, to walk away with the trophy.
Starting the day only two shots back of Mickelson and Bradley, Haas was clearly in contention, but before he took the outright lead for the first time at the 17th hole, his name had barely been mentioned as the possible winner of the tournament....
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