Columnist Dean Juipe: Liszt, Fischer, Woods: No three stooges

Dean Juipe

Monday, Feb. 17, 2003 | 10:14 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

It's said that legendary composer Franz Liszt could play back any piano piece, no matter how long or difficult, after a single listen.

Likewise, it's said that chess master Bobby Fischer remembered and could recite every move of every competitive match he played.

These were men of extraordinary talents who rose to the ultimate pinnacle of their professions not only because of their commitment and devotion, but because they were gifted with an acute sense of mental toughness. They could all but will their concentration to an otherworldly level.

Foes of Liszt and Fischer groveled in submission, as, it might be said, do suitors and rivals of Tiger Woods.

While it's possible he can't even find middle C on a piano keyboard or know that a bishop in chess can only move diagonally, Woods shares a significant trait with those referenced historical figures. No one in his line of work can equal his ability to focus, particularly in times of duress.

Woods wasn't perfect in winning Sunday's Buick Invitational in San Diego, yet his victory was startling in its efficiency. Put Woods in the lead of a tournament and he will, with rare exception and little regard for inherent obstacles, likely find a way to add it to his win column.

That he did it this week after being off the PGA Tour for more than two months only accentuates his ties to Liszt and Fischer. Rusty or not, Woods tapped into his mental reservoir to step by step eliminate the competition at fabled Torrey Pines.

A promising battle with Phil Mickelson and Brad Faxon was, instead, reduced to a romp. A bogey at No. 7 aside, Woods extended a one-stroke lead at the outset of the day to four by the 11th, and he cruised in with a 68 to cap an afternoon in which he reinforced his rightful claim to a most deserving throne.

With Woods off the tour and recovering from Dec. 12 minor surgery on his left knee, he was subjected to mild taunts and indirect acts of insolence.

Mickelson said Woods was using "inferior" equipment, provided by Nike, in a left-handed compliment of sorts that riled not one but two targets. Woods used his tour return to prove his clubs are adequate, and Nike responded by challenging the USGA (which oversees golf equipment) to do spot checks on tour players' clubs, as if some aren't abiding by the rules.

Similarly, the winners of the tour's first five events each spoke of mounting a season-long Tiger hunt, with two-time winner Ernie Els especially vigilant. Els and fellow early season champions Vijay Singh, Mike Weir and Davis Love III comprised a unique group -- each being over 30 years old and with 54 wins combined, the most by a fivesome to open a season since 1984 -- yet they singularly professed to be driven to succeed at a most daunting challenge.

They thought their quick starts, combined with Woods' medically imposed sojourn, would open the door at the top. They dreamed of a new money leader, a new top-ranked player, a new reign on this most affluent of professional tours.

What they failed to recognize with Woods out of sight if not out of mind, is that like Liszt and Fischer before him, Woods' power of recall is without peer.

When he's in position to win, he's not about to forget how to do it.