Terrific Tiger
Tiger is terrific. In his past two wins he tied Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan at 62 and 64 wins, respectively. Woods is 32. Hogan and Palmer were 43. He can win any way possible. The only thing he has not done is to come from far behind on Sunday and win a major, as Jack Nicklaus did in the 1986 Masters. But he has not had to, as he takes tournaments by the throat and dominates, this year like no other.
Today’s action at Bay Hill was just another example, as he drained a 24-foot putt with a style and drama unique to him. Standing in the 18th fairway, he knew what he needed, a shot that allowed for no chance of losing but provided the best chance of winning, so he placed his approach within range. If he had missed, he probably would have been closer to the hole than he had planned, as had happened several times throughout the week. Before the putt, the NBC commentators noted that Woods had not made a putt this long in his 21 tries all week. Johnny Miller then added, But that doesn’t matter to Tiger (as it would to anyone else). So, the putt broke a few feet to the right, going downhill, and it was perfect, not only because it had been read and struck perfectly, but because had it missed (which perfect putts sometimes do), it would have been no more than a few inches from the cup for a tap-in to put Tiger in a playoff with Bart Bryant.
We Tiger fans–and who cannot be a Tiger fan–like it this way, winning with flair by draining a lengthy birdie for a win. We also like to see him challenged, which Bryant did, so kudos to him. With his winning putt, Tiger said, No playoff today, it’s puts my streak in jeopadry. I’ll go for it here. The streak stands at five in a row. With another win next week, he’ll tee off at the Masters with six in a row to enter the second phase of his streak towards 12 in a row–the Masters, the TPC and the U.S. Open and whatever tournament he enters in between. I may be looking past Doral, but Tiger is not, which is why he will contend and probably win.
Get on the Tiger bandwagon. It’s not too late, for this year or the rest of his career. Thrills are guaranteed.
