Crouching worlds, hidden Tiger

SHANGHAI – Three years ago at Sheshan International, hundreds of fans wanting an autograph stood outside the clubhouse where Tiger Woods was signing his scorecard at the HSBC Champions. They excitedly began chanting in Chinese, “We want Tiger! We want Tiger!”

Their hopes faded and the chanting stopped when they realized he had left, and then a lone voice pierced the late afternoon air with a wistful plea in broken English. “Tiger, where are you?” That question resonates even louder this year.

The HSBC Champions embarks on a new era as a World Golf Championship that finally is treated the same as the other three – an official PGA Tour event.

But there’s one big difference. Woods is a no-show.

He has been a huge supporter – andnd financial benefactor – of the WGCs since they began in 1999 by playing in 41 of 44 events. The three he missed were the Match Play in Australia when it was held just after the holidays in 2001, and two in early 2010 when Woods was recovering from the scandal in his personal life.

That he is not playing in Shanghai after a year that featured five wins and two injuries is not the issue. Eight other top players are not playing, either. The golf season never ends. Players can and should take breaks when it best suits their schedules. Adam Scott also is missing, though he faces a month of celebration in Australia, his first time home since winning the Masters.

What makes Woods’ absence so unsettling to tournament organizers is that he’s already in China. AP