Posted by Jason Sobel
Tiger Woods is among the big names -- and there are plenty of 'em -- skipping this week's Byron Nelson Championship. It's the second straight year he hasn't made the trip to Las Colinas (last year's event came in the midst of Woods' nine-week hiatus following his father's death) after missing the cut in 2005.
Of course, it's not like Woods is wasting his time. Earlier this week, he visited Oakmont, site of the upcoming U.S. Open, for the first time since 1994. For the story on what happened, click here. But for the story on what really happened, I hit up one of my spies, who was on hand and behind the scenes as Tiger took to the course on Sunday and Monday. (And you don't know this person, so don't bother guessing!) Here's what my spy told me:
• Woods was in an unbelievably good mood. He posed for photos, gave an impromptu 20-minute putting lesson to the American Express customers in attendance and even let one observer caddie for him on the 288-yard, par-3 eighth hole.
"Guy was overwhelmed," my spy reported. "First thing he does is drop Tiger's putter cover on the tee box. ([ESPN's Mike] Tirico picked it up.) Then he almost left his putter lying on the fringe. Yup, the one he's had for a decade."
• The Associated Press reported that despite never having used the Nike Sumo square-headed driver in competition, Tiger used it exclusively throughout the two days, missing "only three fairways" in Monday's round. Then again, the AP story didn't mention how many times he used the club. Whatever the number was, it's likely it was more than we'll see in June.
The spy report: "We asked him how many times he thought he'd hit driver in June if it's hard and fast as expected. 'Won't ever come out of the bag,' he said. 'Don't need it.' Then he proceeded to drive the front greenside bunker on 17, 313 yards uphill."
• The decision to skip the Nelson and play Wachovia (and yes, it appears he will compete at Quail Hollow, along with 42 of the world's other top 45 players) might have been a last-minute adjustment. There were murmurs that Woods was going to head straight from Oakmont to Las Colinas, then take a week off before The Players Championship, but he must have changed his mind before the Friday 5 p.m. ET deadline last week.
• Of course, it wasn't all about golf. Woods, who has sat in Derek Jeter's box seats at Yankee Stadium, is an unabashed New York Yankees supporter. (It calls to mind that old/new joke about there being 2-year-olds who wonder if Tiger will ever win the Masters and the Yankees will ever win the World Series in their lifetime.) And like most Yankees fans, let's just say he was a little ticked off about the three-game sweep in Boston last weekend.
