Holmes tops Tiger off tees

2008-02-19

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By Andrew BothPA SportsTicker Golf Writer

TUCSON, Arizona (Ticker) -- Tiger Woods will be in unfamiliarterritory in the first round at the Accenture Match PlayChampionship - up against an opponent who hits the ball further.

Woods is no pushover when it comes to power. Last year heranked 10th on the PGA Tour for driving distance, averaging justover 300 yards off the tee.

But Woods was more than 10 yards shorter than fellow AmericanJ.B. Holmes.

"It will be interesting to see what he does," said Woods,speaking on the eve of Wednesday''s first round at Dove Mountain."I know he doesn''t spin the ball a lot with his driver, andthat''s one of the reasons it goes as far as it does. Underthese conditions, he''ll probably be hitting it past me all day."

As if Woods and Holmes aren''t long enough at sea level, theywill hit the ball even further here in the foothills aboveTucson, at some 3,000 feet elevation.

Woods, who has won six of his past seven officials starts goingall the way back to last August, doesn''t have the greatest ofmemories of this course.

Last year, Woods bowed out in the third round, beaten byshort-hitting Australian Nick O''Hern at the second extra hole.Woods lost by missing a putt of barely three feet, anuncharacteristic blunder he blamed on a pitch mark that heneglected to repair.

With anyone else, you''d probably think it was a pretty lameexcuse. But with Woods, you tend to believe him unless you canprove otherwise.

"That was just a complete mental error," Woods said. "I shouldhave paid more attention to detail and I didn''t, and it cost methe match.

"I don''t mind making physical errors and losing a tournament orlosing a match, but making a simple mental error like that stuckwith me for a little bit."

Woods was asked the inevitable question about his chances ofwinning the Grand Slam of all four majors this year and, asusual, he said it was possible but not likely.

"If you look at my career, the majority of years I''ve won overfive tournaments," he said. "So I think if you have everythinggo your way, get lucky, peak at the right times, have the courseset up well for you and then have everything go your way, it ispossible."