"Everybody's on Tiger Watch," the volunteer said to me.
I figured if Tiger is going to play, he has to warm up. So, after reading the wonderful Donald J. Ross quote about Aronimink on the plaque on that rock beyond the first tee - "I intended to make this my masterpiece, but not until today did I realize that I built better than I thought" - I headed for the driving range.
I wandered behind the castle-like clubhouse through a staging area, teeming with a very large fleet of gray Mercedes courtesy cars and huge trailers, apparently with equipment from Titleist, Calloway, TaylorMade, Bridgestone (I thought they were tires), Mizuno and Ping.
A few dozen fans were lined up at the range, waiting on Tiger. Woods was not on the driving range. He was not on the course. Was he still at Isleworth hitting balls or perhaps having breakfast at Perkins? Was he across the river playing Pine Valley? Where was Tiger?
"Is it true Tiger's not teeing off until 2:30?" one lady asked me.
"I have no clue," I told her.
"Off the record," she pleaded.
Off the record?
There are 120 players in this tournament. The other 119 may as well be in the witness protection program.
Not for print
Ran into my new best friend, Steve Elkington. I walked two holes with him on Monday. He tells me I didn't stay around long enough to hear his horse-racing joke.
So?
I took out my pen. He said I would not be able to write about it. He was correct.
How far is it?
A young fan standing next to the 10th tee looked at the flag at the end of the fairway and asked with complete wonder: "That flag down there is where the hole is?"
Tickets
Another one of my fans recognized me. Amazingly, he did not ask when Tiger was teeing off.
"I'm in the ticket business," he told me. "You know how many calls I've gotten on this tournament?"
I gave up quickly.
"One," he said.
I have heard numbers like 30,000 each day this weekend. We shall see.
Not a good sign
