Let’s be honest before we travel down the road of tedious golf stories: Most casual golf fans only care about Tiger Woods. Tavistock is an exhibition golf tournament featuring some of today’s best golfers, but many will only go to see Tiger.
Ernie Els, Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, and Charles Howell III were all here at Lake Nona Country Club today swinging the wood for local golf fans. But if you aren’t a golf connoisseur or casual fan, the above mentioned names do nothing to wet your sports appetite. Tiger Woods is the man behind the game and he is the one that the crowds come to see.
Eldrick, Tiger’s real name, was on hand to test his swing against his recently sprained Achilles. He injured the tendon at the Cadillac Championship at Doral last week and had to pull out of the tournament.
But Mr. Woods looked just fine to me. There was no limp, he looked rested and ready to go for the Arnold Palmer Invitational next week at Bay Hill. Tiger even sank six birdies on a day that featured beautiful weather and a ton of low scores.
At the end of the first day, team Isleworth (-26) holds a two shot lead over team Lake Nona (-24). Because this is an exhibition, team tournament, scoring is a little different.
Tiger was paired with Justin Rose for Team Albany and their total score was nine under par. The rest of his team was a collective eight under, which brought their score to just 17 under par. Good enough for last place.
Tomorrow the four teams return to Lake Nona to finish up the tournament and a chance at bragging rights. While this tournament is closed to the public, it is an experience to say the least. Players are brought in by helicopter and spectators are only feet away from the golfers on the fairways. It is truly a grand fan experience that does not lend itself to regular golf tournaments.
Tomorrow’s second round tee’s off at 10:50am.
-JH
