“Is it not sickening that Woods keeps on winning? Nobody deserves to be that good.†This was the email that greeted me on Monday morning, just hours after Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational by one shot.
It was from a good friend of mine, a fellow journalist and a Scot from Edinburgh. This same person hailed Woods as a revolutionary when he first appeared on the scene more than 10 years ago.
Many people, I’m sure, have by now fallen off the Woods fan club, hoping he will lose where once they applauded every victory. As for myself, I would not say I’m hoping for a Tiger victory in every tournament but neither do I dislike it when he does win, as he seems to do whenever he plays these days.
Still, there is something about a chase for records. His 64th career victory ties Ben Hogan at number three on the PGA Tour. There’s no other current pro who comes close. Jack Nicklaus’ 73 is his next target and the comes the main one, Sam Snead’s 82. Not only that, but he has a perfect record this season.
He did it with a 25-foot birdie on the final hole to pip veteran Bart Bryant before a captivated crowd that included the man himself, Arnold Palmer. Woods ended up with six-under 66 for his fifth Bay Hill triumph.
Bryant could only shake his head in disbelief, claiming that only Tiger could pull off a tournament-winning stroke like that. Woods, however, was more humble, as he said on the PGA Tour website:
“I don’t know how I did that. I just wanted to get the speed right and make sure I didn’t leave myself a second putt … and it went in. It’s pretty amazing to be in that kind of company. I’ve had an amazing run in my career, and hopefully, it continues.â€
Woods finished at 10-under 270 for his victory. Sean O’Hair closed with 69 to finish in a tie for third with Vijay Singh (69) and Cliff Kresge (67).
On the European Tour, Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell won the inaugural Ballatine’s Championship in Jeju, South Korea when he beat India’s Jeev Milkha Singh on the third extra hole.
McDowell sank a two-foot putt to win the title after closing on six-under 66 for a four-day total of 24-under 264.
Singh’s shot the same score on the final round but will rue missed chances after opening up a three-shot lead after four holes.
When the pair played the par-four 18th for the third time, Singh hit to within five feet but McDowell went even closer. In the end, the Indian hit his birdie putt wide as McDowell needed an easy tap-in to win the 330,000 euro first prize.
The tournament was co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Korea PGA. It was one of the tournaments that earlier caused friction between Europe and Asia after the Europeans organised the event without Asia’s permission.
However, the two bodies have since come to an agreement to co-sanction the event, which is the first time the European Tour has come to Korea.
Tiger plays great golf. He’s powerful under pressure. He has great concentration. He trains hard. He’s a nice guy. What’s not to like?
I’m glad that I will be able to tell my grandkids that I saw him play.
As a golfer and a golf fan I think I’m fortunate to be able to witness the best player in history. Barring injury, his win totals should far exceed Jack’s and Sam’s. I’m no insider, but it appears that the likes of Arnold and Jack enjoy Tiger as well. That speaks volumes to his person.
I like Brian Magee’s comments above and the others too. I believe golf has grown immensely because of Tiger. I know NIKE has! There might be somebody greater than Tiger in a future generation to come. Golf is a great sport. I’ve never cheered so loud or so much until I saw him play. Join the TIGER WOODS BAND WAGON and enjoy the ROLLERCOASTER!!! I have been on the ride since his amateur status days many years back. It’s been THE GREATEST RIDE OF ALL and I’m not jumping off. I’m staying on it until he retires, or until I die and they kick me off!!! Who knows, maybe I’ll still be enjoying the ride in the AFTERLIFE. LOL. GOLF IS GREAT, but GOD IS THE GREATEST. LOVE
I think Tiger has won this hands down. May he go from strength to strength.
One day he will be history, but until that day may he entertain us playing our great game as it is meant to be played.
He is an inspiration to all would be golfers.
Greetings. I should clarify something here before my mate decides he’ll never speak to me again. He actually doesn’t dislike Tiger Woods and was sort of giving him a back-handed compliment.
I agree with John M. McKeon, Brian J Dickenson, and jim caswell. I like to watch Tiger Woods play golf all the time, win or lose, but I love it when he wins.:grin: Watching him play makes the hours more exciting, whether coming from behind or on top of the leaderboard.:razz: I watch more golf when he plays in them. To me, he doesn’t play enough tournaments. Others do have a chance to win. Ernie Els was a nice long awaited victory, and it would have been more exciting to see Els with a Tiger playoff. Maybe if Tiger played every week and kept winning them, I would say give somebody else a chance. But for now, records were meant to be broken so keep up the effort Tiger. I believe and have read from golf journalists that Tiger is the BEST OF ALL TIME, certainly of this generation. Until Tiger breaks all the records, then nobody can deny him the honor! GO TIGER!!!
As for people who want or wish Tiger to lose is just simply sad.The past generations had Snead ,Hogan ,Nicklaus,Palmer,and many others to admire and hold to a standard of excellence.This generation has Tiger,Mickelson,Els and for 1 I feel privalaged to get to witness it live on TV and not on videos from the past, which doesn’t get me as excited because I already know the outcome.I say to everyone who likes Tiger or not just feel privalaged to witness some of golf’s best shots and greatest rounds ever played.I think the standard he is setting is only for the betterment of the game and next generations to come.Tiger has goals (as we all should) and to fault him or scoul at him for achieving them is simply wrong.I say join him and enjoy the ride he is on because I know I’ll never beat him and neither will 80% of the tour players.
Tiger deserves the wins he achieves because he puts in the work necessary to win them. I don’t just mean the practice. He prepares mentally as well as physically. If you watch the close ups of him on TV with his shot preparation, you’ll see he’s not just grabbing a club and swinging away, he’s focusing on what’s necessary to pull off the best shot he can. He’s not focusing on what his opponent is doing, its what he has to do to win. Now look at other players. They all have the ability to win tournaments, but do they focus on it? They might but, they don’t impress me as actually doing it. The only one that comes close in my mind is Vijay Singh. Watch his face, you’ll see the dedication and the hard work that results in wins. Incidentally, when he first came out, I thought Tiger was a flash in the pan. Boy was i ever wrong.
All power to Woods, he practices hard with total dedication. Anyone who finds fault with this is both a loser and an envious and a sad person..
Records are there to be broken, just as they were in Palmer’s and Nicklaus’s day. Is anyone complaining about them,,,,,,,no.
To those wingers who moan, get a life.
Tiger is the best. He proves it time and again. We common folk do not play the same golf game as the pros nor could we. I believe that Tiger is the best that ever lived; he not only does every shot well but his mental game is unbelieveable. He deserves to win and does.
I am a great admirer of Tiger Wood’s golf swing and his determination to win everything he enters. However I have always found his putting “spooky”. He must surely be the best and most inspirational putter in history. Any one who plays the game knows the difficulty (even unlikelihood) of making a high percentage of putts between say 4 and 25 feet. Tiger seems to do that regularly. The guy is not normal!!!
Peter Killick