Tiger takes aim at critics with first-round 66 in FedEx finale

ATLANTA — In the one week Tiger Woods had away from golf during the FedEx Cup playoffs, Nick Faldo said he had lost his aura, Greg Norman said he was intimidated by Rory McIlroy and Johnny Miller claimed that Woods once wanted lessons from him.

"Nice week, huh?" Woods said, grinning.

Even better was to be back on the course Thursday at the Tour Championship, where Woods had the final word for at least for one day. He kept the ball in play at East Lake, chipped in for one of his six birdies and wound up with a 4-under 66 for a share of the lead with Justin Rose.

It was the first step toward what Woods hopes is a third FedEx Cup title, and another $10 million bonus.

"I probably could have gotten a couple more out of it," Woods said about his opening round. "But I was probably right on my number."

McIlroy, playing with Woods for the fifth time in these FedEx Cup playoffs, got up-and-down from short of the par-3 18th hole for a 69. McIlroy is trying to become the first player since Woods in 2006 to win three straight PGA Tour events in the same season, and he wasn't overly alarmed by his start.

"Wish I could have shot a couple shots better," McIlroy said. "But I'm in a good position going into tomorrow."

The week began with Norman saying that Woods was intimidated by McIlroy, a suggestion that both players found amusing. While it's doubtful that inspired Woods, he played as if he wasn't ready to let McIlroy win a third straight playoff event and capture the FedEx Cup.

McIlroy, who has won three of his last four tournaments, and Woods are among the top five seeds at East Lake who only have to win the Tour Championship to claim the largest payoff in golf. Woods wasn't interested in what anyone else was doing.

"Just winning," he said. "Winning takes care of everything."

Jack Nicklaus even weighed in on Norman's comments to FoxSports.com. Nicklaus was doing a radio interview with ESPN 980 in Washington when told about Norman's remarks that McIlroy intimidated Woods. Nicklaus said playfully, "Quiet, Greg. Quiet. Down, boy."

"I think Tiger has a lot of wins left in him," Nicklaus said. "He does have a lot more competition. During the couple of years when Tiger wasn't really there, all of a sudden you have Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley and I could probably name a half-dozen other guys that have all won and learned how to win in Tiger's absence. They're not scared of him anymore."

Rose swiftly moved up the leaderboard late in his round with three birdies over the last five holes, and the last one was memorable. From the back of the green on the par-3 18th, Rose faced a 50-foot putt with some 20 feet of break from right to left. It looked wide the whole way until it snapped back toward the cup.

Equally impressive was chipping in from some 20 yards short of the 14th green for the birdie that started his big run.

Rose is 24th in the FedEx Cup, meaning he would have to win and everyone at the top of the standings would have to falter. The way Woods started, that looked improbable. Rose checked the leaderboard early on, not to see his projected standing, but to get an idea of how the course was playing.

That part was easy to decipher. On a warm day, with the sun finally breaking through cloud cover in the middle of the afternoon, no one was tearing up the place.

View the original article here

Inaba, Miyamoto reach greatness despite first-round snub

Join the club: Atsunori Inaba hits an RBI single to right to record the 2,000th hit of his career on Saturday in Sendai. KYODO

When Kensuke Tanaka and Sho Nakata both apologized to Atsunori Inaba after recording outs that denied the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters veteran a shot at reaching the 2,000-hit milestone last Thursday at Tokyo Dome, Inaba knew he had to get things done quickly.

So he did, carving out a little slice of NPB history in his very next at-bat, on Saturday in Sendai against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, with an RBI single that made him one of only 39 players to reach 2,000 hits in Japan.

Soon he'll share that distinction with Tokyo Yakult Swallows infielder Shinya Miyamoto, who with 1,996 hits is poised to soon become the 40th to 2,000.

It's fitting the pair will, barring injury, join the Meikyukai, or Golden Players club, in the same season. They may have taken differing routes to the achievement, but the decorated veterans began their journey in the same place, with the Yakult Swallows.

Unless there was a crystal ball involved, there's no way the Swallows knew what they had on their hands during the 1994 draft.

But that's the funny thing about drafting players. No matter how much you think you know, the whole thing is essentially just one big crapshoot. Quite a few players pegged for greatness flame out, while other prospects, thought of as little more than warm bodies, end up in the Hall of Fame.

The supposed can't-miss players are generally drafted early, and in 1994 pitcher Tetsuya Kitagawa was the Swallows' first choice. Yakult selected Miyamoto in the second round and grabbed Inaba in the third.

Kitagawa retired in 1999 with four career wins and a 5.18 ERA. Miyamoto, meanwhile, is in his 18th season and has a career average of .283 and eight gold gloves. Inaba has been even better, with a career average of .291 to go along with 249 home runs and 977 RBIs.

Between them, Miyamoto and Inaba have been apart of four Japan Series winning teams — three as teammates with Yakult in 1995, 1997, and 2001 and then Inaba's triumph with the Fighters in 2006. They were also members of Japan's triumphant 2006 World Baseball Classic squad.

Inaba won the WBC a second time in 2009, while Miyamoto is the owner of an Olympic bronze medal, won at the 2004 Games.

Of course, there was no way to know any of that in 1994. Back then no team would even use a first-round selection on them, and Inaba, who has had the more prolific career, had to wait until the third round.

Looking back, the only first-rounder to make a major impact over the years was Kenji Johjima, selected by the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, though Saburo Omura chosen by the Chiba Lotte Marines, has had a productive career.

An incredible work ethic propelled Miyamoto and Inaba to new heights, and reaching 2,000 hits will help put their careers into perspective.

It's one thing to hang on for as long as they have, but to continue to be viable long enough to reach these heights is something few players do.

Inaba deserved the cheers that came his way on Saturday and Miyamoto will have paid his dues for his spot in the sun when his time comes.

They began their careers together 18 years ago and now, likely no more than a week or two apart, they'll each take a big step toward cementing a positive legacy in the game.

View the original article here