Golf:

It always amuses me when I hear the Tiger Woods detractors and uneducated golf pundits talk in panicked tones whenever the part-time Corona del Mar resident does something as human like miss a cut.

Yes, it is unusual that Woods misses a cut in a major championship like he did a few weeks ago at the British Open. Yes, it has only happened two times in his professional career.

OK, slightly newsworthy, but to hear the sports-talk radio hosts shouting about his game is gone is laughable.

Then when he played in his first event since missing the cut and shot a 71, the same pontificators acted like Woods’ career was over.

“He’s going to miss the second consecutive cut,” the shrill came through my car stereo. “Woods needs to fire his swing coach, Hank Haney,” came another talking air head.

So I hope that those same “experts” would come back on Monday after he won the Buick Open the day before, shooting 20-under par and start the mea culpa festival.

Sadly, I should have known better.

“There was no competition at the Buick Open,” one said. “It was like a Nationwide Tour event.”

One ESPN pundit who is extra-specially ignorant, said there was no one in the top 100 in the field. He’s also the same person that intimated that Woods was faking his injury at the U.S. Open last year. Allow me to write what he and others should have said.

Yes, the field was not one of the stronger ones the PGA Tour sees during the year, but Jim Furyk was there and he is No. 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings. Justin Leonard (No. 32) and Rory Sabbatini (No. 38) were also in the field.

When Woods shot his opening round 71 it was an under-par round, but to hear others describe it you would have thought he shot an 80.

He was eight shots behind first-round leader Steve Lowrey, who shot an opening round 63. Lowrey by the way, never saw 60s again, shooting three rounds in the 70s and finished tied for 63rd.

Woods said it best himself after his “horrible” first round where he said it was one of his worst putting days as a professional.

“I gotta go low,” Woods said reporters. “The guys are going to continue to go low. It’s going to be 20-plus under to win the tournament.”

Well what did Nostradamus Woods finish at? Uh, 20-under and a three-shot lead.

When will these unenlightened radio and television personalities realize Woods stumbles just like every other golfer? But one quality he has that others don’t, is that he rebounds so much quicker, almost instantly.

Woods had an abysmal 32 putts in the first round. He had 27 in the second, 26 in the third and 27 in the final round, finishing 15th in putting.

The other cry was about how Woods wasn’t straight with his driver. He doesn’t need to be. The course was fairly open and Woods had the luxury to bomb it on holes where he knew he could recover if need be. He certainly wouldn’t try that strategy at a U.S. Open or other tournament with tight fairways.

The threat of missing the cut was almost non-existent. Woods has done this countless times before. He will have a poor first round and then catapult back into contention with a low score in the second round.

Woods has missed five cuts since turning professional in 1997. The No. 2 ranked golfer, Phil Mickelson, missed five cuts in 2007.

Finally, Woods has played in 10 full-field events and won four times. He is playing this week at the Bridgestone Invitational and has won the event six times. The PGA Championship is an event he has won four times.

I will be interested to hear what others have to say after the next two weeks. Hopefully Woods will be able to conquer his “slump.”

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].