The greatest player of his particular moment in time, old TW from Stanford, rolled up major championships in bunches, defeated the best players of his era with regularity and built a swing that would hold up for decades.
Pretty clearly, with that last reference, we are not talking about Tiger Woods.
This particular citation relates to Tom Watson, a player with such longevity he nearly won the British Open at age 59.
At the rate Woods is falling apart, physically, he will be lucky to be ambulatory at 49, much less a decade later.
Last weekend at the Honda Classic, for the fourth time this decade, Woods withdrew in the middle of a PGA Tour event, citing yet another injury.
In his chase to unseat Jack Nicklaus and his record of 18 major championships, not only is time no longer Woods’s ally, his physical deterioration has become the biggest part of the prognosis picture.
This time, the mid-round walk-off was attributed to a back injury that first cropped up last fall.
A chronic back ailment is not the world No 1’s only nagging issue – so is a realisation that Woods’s majors chase has become even more tenuous.
Woods has won 14 majors – none since 2008 – and is a creaky 38.
The only player who amassed four grand slam titles after reaching that age signpost is Ben Hogan, a late bloomer who also had major health issues in his career. However, Hogan’s health related to a near-fatal car accident, not wear and tear.
In Dubai, Woods said he had spent much of his off-season “working on my body”, lest he experience more ailments.
He lasted three starts, spread over two months, before breaking down. He experienced back and wrist issues last year and played in 18 official events, skipping his own tournament because of the hand injury.
Context is king.
Before his body began to break down in 2010, Woods in his professional career had withdrawn from one PGA Tour event after it had started, when he came down with influenza at Los Angeles.
At this point in his career, Nicklaus had withdrawn from one tournament.
Watson withdrew once in 610 career PGA Tour starts. Phil Mickelson, the player most often linked to Woods among his contemporaries, has withdrawn three times because of injury.
Last weekend marked Woods’s sixth mid-event withdrawal in 297 career starts.
It is not the total that is most alarming – it is the frequency and recency.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
Abaya trends
The utilitarian robe held dear by Arab women is undergoing a change that reveals it as an elegant and graceful garment available in a range of colours and fabrics, while retaining its traditional appeal.
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
The biog
Favourite car: Ferrari
Likes the colour: Black
Best movie: Avatar
Academic qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in media production from the Higher Colleges of Technology and diploma in production from the New York Film Academy
