The world’s most famous golfer returned to Central New York on Wednesday afternoon, far removed from the heights he occupied when in this same spot two years ago.
Back in 2009, when Tiger Woods appeared at the Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at Turning Stone Resort’s Atunyote Golf Club, he was comfortably atop the world rankings, married, a father of two, a winner of 14 major titles, awash in endorsements and as famous as any athlete in the world.
Yet when Woods came back for this same event in Verona, everything had changed. In the wake of an automobile accident just after Thanksgiving 2009, his personal life fell apart in a deluge of tabloid headlines about affairs that led to a much-publicized divorce.
Worse yet, Woods’ golf game has regressed, as he has not won a tournament in 21 months. He missed three months (and two majors) this season due to knee and ankle injuries. Those injuries caused Begay, who was Woods’ college teammate at Stanford University, to push back this charity event from its original July 5 date.
Despite all this, a crowd of more than 3,000 turned out at Atunyote, mostly to see Woods, who teamed with LPGA professional Suzann Pettersen in a best-ball format. Begay, Rickie Fowler, and Hunter Mahan rounded out the men’s field, with LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Soresnstam joining Christie Kerr and Natalie Gulbis on the women’s side.
Woods began with a birdie on the 1st hole, and also finished with a birdie on 18. But wayward drives marked the middle part of his round, as has marked most of his recent play. Pettersen, in fact, would make most of the birdies as that team carded a nine-under-par 63 for the round.
It was Kerr and Mahan winning the event, just as they had done in 2010. They had a 30 on the front nine and added five more birdies on the back nine for an 11-under-par 61, one better than Sorenstam and Fowler. Begay and Gublis finished at seven under.
All told, the event raised more than $500,000 for the Notah Begay III Foundation, which serves to prevent health issues like diabetes and childhood obesity among Native American youth. It’s uncertain whether the event will return to Turning Stone next year, as the four-year contract between Begay and the resort has run out.
