The Buick Open’s golden anniversary at Warwick Hills lost a lot luster without Tiger Woods, making Jim Furyk the tournament’s top player and John Daly the fan favorite.
Even though Woods was recovering Wednesday from major surgery on his left knee the previous day, his likeness was everywhere and his legacy was a topic of discussion.
Woods’ image is plastered on three sides of Buicks in the parking lot, on pairings sheets and billboards in the Detroit and Flint areas.
Buick Open officials expected Woods to be in the field for the ninth time since 1997.
But the world’s No. 1 player announced last week he would miss the rest of the season after enduring a double-stress fracture in his left leg and a torn knee ligament over 91 holes to win the U.S. Open in a playoff over Rocco Mediate.
“If it was anybody else that I would have lost to, I would have been devastated right now,” Mediate said. “This guy does things that are just not normal by any stretch of the imagination.”
