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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
Fred Varcoe
Dunlop Phoenix Open
Tiger Woods looks to roar again in Japan
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If Tiger Woods is looking to re-establish his credibility
as a golfer, perhaps Japan would be the place to do it. Why?
Well: 1) Because the Japan Tour is the only major golf circuit
in which the Tiger hasn’t won a competition; and 2) The
Japan Tour is seriously undervalued. In fact, it’s largely
been a world of its own up to now but if that’s going
to change, then this is the year to do it. And that’s
partly because the winner of the British Open Championship
at Troon this year (Todd Hamilton) was Made In Japan.
A year ago, if you’d asked anyone outside Japan who Todd
Hamilton was, you’d be lucky to get an answer. Hamilton,
of course, was a complete nobody in world terms, while Tiger
was the undisputed world No. 1.
Well, no more.
Woods will be playing in the Dunlop Phoenix Open in Miyazaki
(November 18-21), and there are rumors that Hamilton will
also appear. If he does, the Open champ will be the in-form
American, the one with the major in his bag and 11 titles
on the Japan Tour; Tiger will be the slumping Yank with no
major currently to his name and no JGTO wins, the one who
is living on his past reputation.
But let’s make one thing very clear here: Todd Hamilton
was not “a nobody” when he won at Troon in July.
Unknown in the United States and Europe maybe, but that’s
only because no one pays any attention to the Japan Tour.
This is partly because there’s little information about
it available in English, partly because it pays for Japanese
golfers to stay at home, and partly because no one really
cares about what happens in Japan. While the European Tour
spreads itself around in countries such as South Africa, Thailand
and Australia, Japan seems to get the cold shoulder. Yet it
was only ten years ago that it was the richest tour in the
world, and graduates such as Brian Watts, Carlos Franco and
Duffy Waldorf—not to mention Japan’s own Shigeki
Maruyama—have all gone on to have an impact on the US
PGA Tour and elsewhere. The only recognition Japan gets comes
at the end of the season when several top international stars
come in search of a fistful of yen and to publicize their
sponsors.
Closer to Tokyo, the VISA Taiheiyo Masters tournament in Gotemba
(November 11-14) will feature one of Japan’s more successful
golfing tourists in Englishman Lee Westwood. Westwood won
the Taiheiyo tournament three times in a row from 1996-98,
but he went into a bit of a slump soon after. However, the
lad from Worksop has roared back this season, winning twice,
narrowly losing to Ernie Els in the World Match Play Championship,
and helping Europe thrash the United States in this year’s
Ryder Cup.
Joining Westwood in Gotemba will be another Ryder Cup star,
world No.15 Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland. The cigar-puffing
Clarke can probably lay claim to the sobriquet “Best
Golfer in the World Never to Win a Major,” and the battle
with Westwood over the beautiful Taiheiyo Gotemba Course could
be a classic.
Woods, though, will have to conquer his biggest fault—driving—if
he is to take the title off Thomas Bjorn in Miyazaki, as the
Tom Watson-designed course at the Phoenix Resort is also thick
with trees. The newly married world No. 3 is currently ranked
177th in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour, so he’ll need
to scramble like crazy to take the title off Danish champion
Thomas Bjorn.
Would you bet against him?
The Dunlop Phoenix Open takes place
in Miyazaki from November 18-21. The VISA Taiheiyo Masters
takes place in Gotemba from November 11-14. See listings for
details.
Photo credit: Courtesy of
The Golf Times
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to the editor at letters@metropolis.co.jp.
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