Woods shows his maturity on and off the course

It's a bit like the glass being half empty or half full. Depending on one's perspective, the inaugural, £3 million WGC American Express Championship, which starts at Valderrama tomorrow, can be viewed as a significant breakthrough or a potential flop. Either way, there is no doubting the presence of Tiger Woods as a huge bonus.

David Duval is missing, as are Mark O'Meara, Jesper Parnevik and Fred Couples from the world's top-20. A broader view, however, reveals that there are only four other absentees - Jumbo Ozaki, Steve Stricker, Greg Norman and Lee Janzen - from the world's top 50. Which makes this easily Europe's biggest tournament outside the British Open.

Parnevik, as it happens, has decided to forfeit more than a minimum return of £18,000 this week. Having played 10 European Tour events this year, this one would have given him the minimum of 11 necessary to retain his card. Now he ceases to be a European Tour member, so placing his Ryder Cup future in jeopardy.

His place in this week's field goes to England's John Bickerton, who moves up to 20th in the Order of Merit. And another beneficiary of Parnevik's decision is Jeremy Robinson, who gained the last card from the 1998 Qualifying School and has now completed a similarly dramatic escape by moving from 116th to 115th to retain his playing card in Category 7.

Ireland have two representatives in the field. Darren Clarke is now 21st in the world and Padraig Harrington has broken into the top-50 for the first time in his career, moving from 54th to 49th position after a share of second place in the Volvo Masters at Montecastillo last Sunday. By staying in the top-50, he would gain automatic entry into the US Masters next April.

Both players were on the course practising yesterday, Clarke in a full, four-ball round with Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Thomas Bjorn, while Harrington restricted his activities to the back nine.

"I like the speed of the greens here," said the Dubliner. Then he added with a grin: "And there's less water than Montecatillo."

Meanwhile, Woods looked remarkably fresh and well when he arrived here yesterday, his coffers swollen after the latest infusion of $900,000 from victory in last Sunday's US Tour Championship. And in a white shirt, white cap and beige slacks, he seemed very much at peace with the world.

On this occasion, a particularly striking aspect of golf's foremost personality was his diplomatic, even indulgent treatment of the local media. Predictably, they were anxious to promote their current, leading lights, Garcia and last Sunday's winner, Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Was Garcia the toughest opponent he had faced this year? "Sergio and I played head-to-head only once, in the (US) PGA Championship, and if I said he was my biggest contender, I would be doing an injustice to all the other great players I played against," he replied.

Would this be a chance for Sergio to get revenge (for Medinah)? "If he wins, that would be great for him," said Woods. "But I don't think he would ever look at it as revenge. That's not the way he is. He's too carefree and too light-hearted and too good a guy."

Then the Spanish scribes turned their attention to Jimenez. And once again, Woods gave a response which prompted nods and smiles from his audience. And he had clearly done his homework when remarking: "Three events in Spain he has come first, second, first: you've got to look out for him, especially coming off a great win last weekend."

Obviously the American's handlers would have been able to inform him that Jimenez won the Turespana Masters last March and was runner-up to Jarmo Sandelin in the Spanish Open a month later. But that the player was interested in assimilating such information spoke volumes for his generosity of spirit.

Another fascinating aspect of Woods is the manner in which he seeks out each interrogator's face and makes eye-contact while answering the question. As was my experience when I wondered if he found the game getting easier, or did it remain as elusive as ever.

"It's still elusive, there's no doubt about that," he replied. Then he added with one of those special smiles: "But it's easier in that I'm not playing from as many trees as I once was. I'm not putting myself in the trouble I used to, because of the way my swing has improved.

"Through a lot of hard work over the last two years, my swing has really come around and it's really nice to have the shots I have in my repertoire right now. It means that if one doesn't work, I can go to another and another. It's nice to have that variety."

As to his feelings on returning to Valderrama where a disappointing Ryder Cup debut in 1997 culminated in a 4 and 2 singles defeat by Costantino Rocca, he said: "I wasn't playing all that well at that time and unfortunately it showed. I wasn't able to hit the shots I can hit now. I'm now a far better player than I was then."

He would find no argument about that at the end of a season in which he has become the first player to win seven events on the USPGA Tour since Johnny Miller won eight in 1974. In fact, Woods did get an eighth victory - in the Deutsche Bank Open in Heidelberg last May, when he took top prize of £200,000. Last Sunday's win also pushed him past the $10 million mark in career earnings. And with 14 wins in 69 professional tournaments in the US, he has been averaging $149,495 per tournament. Finally, at 23, he has become the youngest player in the US to get seven tournament wins since Horton Smith won eight in 1929, as a 21-year-old.

Even the Spaniards would acknowledge that he has set some interesting targets for Master Garcia.