Tiger Woods is dead, not physically but professionally. After another weekend of throwing his clubs and making excuses for why he lost to the 110th ranked player in the world, it’s very clear that Tiger is done. Sure, maybe he can win the Buick Invitational or various WGC events, but Tiger is no longer winning the tournaments he lives for; major championships. I don’t know what’s happening with the so called “best golfer in the world” but maybe his talent is being sucked out of him Space Jam style by various formerly low ranked golfers. At the U.S. Open, with Tiger already in the clubhouse watching the likes of Lucas Glover, Ricky Barnes, David Duval and Tiger’s rival, Phil Mickelson battled it out. When Lucas Glover won, more of the talk was centered on who he didn’t beat as opposed to who he beat. Then at the British, Tiger was home watching when Stewart Cink ended Tom Watson’s storybook weekend. So this past weekend, after Paddy Harrington made a quintuple bogey eight on the eighth hole, it was all but sealed for Tiger right? With the world’s 10th ranked player and three time major champion Harrington out of the picture, all Tiger had to do was beat a diminutive named Korean Y.E. Yang, owner of one career PGA title. Tiger has been near the top of a major leader board a few times, but for Yang this was a new experience; Yang’s best finish in a major was a 30th place at the 2007 Masters. Tiger and Yang were alone on an island, one Tiger doesn’t own, five shots clear of a group at three under. After Harrington’s eight, I as well as many others though, “Damn Tiger won another one.” Except for one thing, Tiger didn’t win this one.
Tiger choked. After Yang made the eagle at 14, Tiger had four holes to make up that one stroke. When you are widely considered the best in the world, this is a situation where you need to win. This was an upset for the ages. This was Boise State over Oklahoma, George Mason over UNC, and Douglas over Tyson, actually this was greater than all of those put together. Did Korean fans celebrate like this? Probably not. This changes golf for Asian fans, since it’s been a while since someone from ethnically diverse won a major tournament. Vijay Singh was the last to do it. Yang will bring in more fans from his native Korea and expand the game globally. Where Yang goes from his new found success remains to be seen, but chances are he won’t win another major again. The better question is where does Tiger go? Tiger needs five more major championships to pass Jack and cement his name as the winningest golfer in major championship history. Will this happen eventually? It probably will, but I hope it doesn’t. Eventually, if this does happen, I hope that between now and then Tiger learns to win with class and dignity. Act like you’ve been there before, Tiger, and maybe you’ll be there again.
No comments:
Post a Comment