Mike Aitken: When the cat was away, the mice did play – but no more

Published on Wednesday 11 March 2009 23:14

A NEW Nike TV advert being screened in America depicts Justin Leonard, Trevor Immelman, Stewart Cink, Anthony Kim and Carl Pettersson savouring those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer during the enforced absence of the injured Tiger Woods.

The five US PGA Tour players are seen winning tournaments, signing autographs and celebrating the good life. Their pictures are splashed on magazine covers, champagne corks pop and laughter fills the air.

Suddenly, as the world No1 strolls back into the locker room with a wave, the music stops. All five men fall silent. After Leonard offers Woods a handshake, Pettersson sighs deeply and his head drops.

The message isn't subliminal. In fact, it beats you over the head with an oversize driver. When the cat's away, the mice can play. Now Tiger's back from injury, his contemporaries must come to terms with knowing the party is over.

"We had fun on that one," grinned Woods. "The guys were great. We were needling each other the entire time."

Whether Immelman & Co were wise to take part in a promotion which blatantly perpetrates the legend of Woods's invincibility is a moot point, but there's no doubt the scenario depicted by this lighthearted advert carries the ring of truth.

It's safe to say deference to Woods was the default setting among most of his peers before the world No1 underwent knee surgery. Now that eight months or so have elapsed since he last took part in a strokeplay event at the US Open, it will be interesting to see if anything has changed at Doral when the CA Championship, one of the elite World Golf championship events, gets under way today in Florida.

Having made his competitive return to the game in Arizona last month at the Match Play, where he was eliminated by Tim Clark in the second round, it's a safe bet Woods will view the CA as an important part of his preparations for next month's Masters at Augusta.

While his own participation in Georgia is a welcome boost for the season's first major, the world No1 agrees the lengthening of the course – the so-called 'Tiger-proofing' process – has sapped some of the excitement from the Masters. "I miss guys being able to go out there and shoot 31 on that back nine and win a championship," he admitted.

Because there's no halfway cut at Doral in a field which features 80 leading players, including the world's top 20, Tiger is guaranteed the opportunity to play all 72 holes. While his ambition is certain to extend beyond the challenge of competitive fine-tuning, it won't do his frame of mind any harm to recall he has won this event six times over the past ten years.

&#149 To watch the Nike golf commercial, 'The Good Life', log on to www.youtube.com