Woods returns to the LVI

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 4:09 a.m.

Tiger Woods knew an awful lot about winning golf tournaments before he ever captured the Las Vegas Invitational last October.

But his sudden-death win here over Davis Love III in only his fifth start as a professional provided Woods with a valuable lesson. It also helped propel him to one of the most incredible starts to a professional career the sport has ever seen.

That, however, is only part of the reason Woods has decided to return to Las Vegas this week to defend his title in the 15th annual Las Vegas Invitational.

"It was a dream come true, it was something I had dreamt about since I started watching PGA golf, so probably (since) I was five," Woods said of winning his first PGA Tour event.

"But to win on the West Coast and also have all my friends and my family out there was something that really touched my heart. My mom was there; my dad unfortunately wasn't there, but he was crying at home and my mom was definitely in tears and so was I."

Coming from four shots off the lead on the final day of the 1996 LVI, Woods shot an 8-under-par 64 and beat Love with a par on the first hole of the playoff. That came in handy two weeks later when Woods captured his second event, the Walt Disney World Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

"Winning in Vegas gave me a lot of confidence because I had to beat Davis down the stretch and also in the playoff," Woods recalled. "Then when I faced Payne (Stewart, down the stretch at Disney), it was something very similar because I had already gone through that experience two weeks prior.

"I took a lot of the lessons I learned from Vegas and applied them down the stretch in Disney and, boy, that really did help because I hit some shots I probably wouldn't have hit unless I had experienced it in Vegas."

Woods, who shot rounds of 63, 67 and 64 at the Tournament Players Club at Summerlin during last year's LVI, said he was looking forward to playing the northwest Las Vegas course again.

"I actually love it," Woods said of the TPC. "That golf course is, I think, pretty defenseless if the wind doesn't blow. As fast as it usually plays and as hot as it is, the ball is going to go for miles -- and you're also at altitude, being in Vegas.

"With those conditions, a lot of guys shoot low. But if the wind blows out there, man that golf course is really hard because holes get kind of long and the bunkers definitely come into play and that water on 16 and 17 -- and even on 18 -- gets a little hairy at times."

While Woods said he has an affinity for Las Vegas, the 21-year-old said he has no plans to move here -- despite that his coach, Butch Harmon, is moving his operations from Houston to the new Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson. Woods recently bought a home near Orlando, Fla.

"I definitely think about putting a house somewhere out on the West Coast but as far as permanently moving out there, I don't see myself (doing that)," Woods said.

"Traveling (from) the West Coast, you always lose three hours if you go to the East Coast and I think that's too tough on your body. To do that week after week after week and year after year would take its toll. Some guys have tried it and you see them moving to the East Coast or the Midwest where traveling is easier.

"But I definitely will be coming out to Vegas a little more often to see Butch and to see my friends, too."

Woods, who was 20 and unable to spend any of his $297,000 in winnings from last year's LVI at the tables, said he plans next month to enjoy all that Las Vegas has to offer.

"This year, I'll be able to do some things that I wasn't exactly allowed to do (last year)," he said with a grin.

Woods had four wins this year, including a dominating 12-shot victory at The Masters, and led the PGA Tour in earnings with $1,965,468 going into last weekend's Disney Classic.

Woods opened the season with a victory in the rain-shortened Mercedes Championships in January. After winning The Masters with a record score of 18 under par, Woods won in his very next start, at the GTE Byron Nelson Classic in May. His fourth victory came in July at the Motorola Western Open.

After a third-place tie at the NEC World Series of Golf in August, Woods missed the first cut of his professional career at the Bell Canadian Open in September. Other than his appearance in the Ryder Cup matches, Woods had not played on the PGA Tour since the Canadian Open prior to last weekend's Disney Classic.

In 18 tournaments going into the Disney, Woods finished in the top 10 nine times and in the top 25 13 times and led the PGA Tour with a 69.65 scoring average.

Woods said that he has not felt the pressure of other people's lofty expectations since he turned pro, but added that his first year as a professional was more difficult than he had expected.

"It's kind of flattering that people think that highly of my game, that they expect the best, that they think my game is good enough where I can win every week," Woods said. "(But) I expect the best from me and that is all I care about.

"I have never played this much golf in my life for this long -- competitive golf. I've now played from January all the way through October ... and that has been a big adjustment."

As a result, Woods said he will re-evaluate his playing schedule when this season is finished.

"As far as next year goes, I might take a look at it in December and see where I went wrong this year and things that I did right as far as my preparation, my play and my energy level and take a long, hard, serious look at it and see where I can improve on that," he said. "This is my first year (as a professional) and it's a trial run and you live and learn."