Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’06

Publisher: EA Sports

Platform: PlayStation2, Xbox, GameCube

Stars: 3 out of 5

It’s apparent that the makers of ‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’06’ pride themselves on mind-boggling realism. Every blade of grass is finely represented in digital form. As is the stubble on John Daly’s double-chin. Or the corporate sponsorships printed on hats and golf balls.

Aesthetically, this game is frighteningly real. For instance, if you create a golfer, you can tinker with the amount of leg bend in his swing. If that’s not enough micro-management, you can control the amount of acne on his face.

But with all that attention to detail, the makers failed to acknowledge one giant oversight: This game is too easy.

First, a little background: For years, the top complaint about Tiger Woods golf is the skill level. In previous versions, scores in the 50s were routine. It’s been six years since a men’s professional golfer carded a 59. I know three guys with a PlayStation2 who did it last week.

Which brings us to this year’s version. It’s been awhile since I played a golf video game. For this demo, I used a game system and controller I had never used before. Logistically, my score should have been in the 100s.

Of course not. Not when I’m controlling Tiger Woods. My first shot was 300 yards down the center of the fairway. Later in the round, I sank an eagle from 150 yards.

Aesthetically, it was a beautiful scene. The camera zoomed into a concerned Tiger – covered head-to-toe in Nike gear – as he stared down the shot. Then he spoke to me.

‘Get down, ball,’ he said sternly.

The ball landed softly on the green and rolled toward the cup – but only slow enough to make the Nike logo on the ball discernable. Then it dropped into the hole.

Tiger waved sweetly to the gallery, careful not to get too excited. In real life, he’d be fist-pumping his way to the green. But in his own video game, he must know these types of shots are pretty run of the mill.

Tired of my dominance, I opted for a neutralizer in Stuart Appleby – an affable Australian who is about as plain a golfer as they come. No frills. No trick shots. Very solid.

So imagine the shock when on a par-4 at Pebble Beach, Appleby drained a 180-yard approach shot.

That’s right, two eagles in about 20 minutes. I’d love to take credit as a fabulous gamer, as if I mixed just the right amount of thumb twitch and timing to produce two incredible shots. But I’d be kidding myself.

Video gamers love adversity, especially in sports games. It’s no fun to run the table in Madden. As wonderful as it may seem, it gets boring to hit 100 home runs in a season with Manny Ramirez, or score 98 points in a basketball game with Allen Iverson.

Challenge me, for goodness sakes. Because although it’s wonderful to consistently make eagles, I’d settle for a triple-bogey once in a while.

Published on October 1, 2005 at 12:00 pm