TIGER MASTERS YET ANOTHER GREEN JACKET!!!
As a sports fan, watching Tiger Woods win the Masters last Sunday was without question right up there with some of my all time greatest moments in sport, like Ali-Frazier, Green Bay vs. Dallas in the Ice Bowl, Kentucky defeating Duke in ’78 for the National Championship, Reggie Jackson hitting three home runs in a single World Series game, that sort of great. Who would have EVER believed, following what we have witnessed over the last number of years of Tiger’s health issues, personal and legal issues and his abysmal attempts at a comeback a couple of years ago where he couldn’t hit a chip shot straight, that we would witness history at Augusta, the Tiger magic once again in 2019?!? Certainly not me, who was one of many who believed he was pretty much washed up, a legend who stuck around too long like Ali. But following the spinal fusion surgery, the last gasp attempt to get himself back to playing condition, he just kept at it. Chipping and putting in his backyard, the physical rehabilitation he put in. the promise that he would be back all should have tipped us off that there was still some of that ferocious Bengal Tiger lurking beneath the surface waiting to be unleashed again. Then last fall, he actually won a tournament again. He shot competitive scores in the PGA and Open Championship. But still, winning another major and moving ever closer to Jack Nicklaus’s record of eighteen major championships seemed beyond any realistic expectations. It isn’t any longer! There can be NO argument that Tiger Woods is the greatest single athletic attraction in the world, bar none. The galleries that follow him around a course are absolutely amazing, and the people love him and his game. Following his victory Sunday which secured his FIFTH Green jacket (Nicklaus has SIX), the televised scene of him hugging his son was enough to make a grown man weep (me included), and then they showed pictures of him hugging his own father following his initial Masters victory back in 1997 which was REALLY emotional. Jim Nanz of CBS (who has THE GREATEST job in the whole wide world!!!) called it the best event he’s ever covered, and that includes Final Fours and Super Bowls. He described it on air as “the return to glory” and boy did the ratings back that statement up!! Even though the tournament tee times were moved up to early morning for the first time ever due to the threat of severe weather in the afternoon in Augusta, the CBS ratings were up 41% from last year. This is the “TIGER EFFECT” on the PGA Tour. Trust me, the list of young and coming players that challenged Woods from Saturday right through Sundays final hole were an impressive lot themselves, players like Molenari, Dustin Johnson, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka and Jason Day, to name just a few. He beat the best in the world. His experience, obviously, played a huge part in his historic win. Having played at Augusta so many times in the past, he knew exactly where NOT to hit the ball, like short on hole number 12 where four different players dunked their tee shots into Ray’s Creek, including Molenari when he had the lead. His tee shot was wide left and in the middle of the green, just exactly where it needed to be. His tee shot on hole number eighteen was hit with a three wood, NOT a driver, because he knew exactly where he needed to be to make no worse than a bogey, which assured his win. And when he had done it, the emotion with which he celebrated was epic. Not just a Tiger pump or the somewhat muted initial response after sinking the two footer to clinch another Jacket, but the honest to God fire up the crowd and celebrate wildly with his family and friends. After all it took to get back to that place, the celebrations were well deserved. So I offer heartfelt congratulations to Tiger Woods. The next two major championships, the PGA and the US Open will be played at Beth Page Black in New York and Pebble Beach in California respectively, both venues where he has previously won major championships. I’d say it would be too much to dare think he could pull off another one, but then I’d probably be proved wrong again by the greatest player of our generation, who desperately wants to pass Jack Nicklaus with NINETEEN major victories. That would indeed put him in a category all by himself. In the meanwhile, enjoy. Golf is better off with him in the limelight, and it should prove to be an interesting summer to say the least!!!! FORE!!!!
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About Mike ColeBorn in Hamilton, OH but a proud Kentuckian since age two. One brother and three sisters. Suburban, Catholic middle-class upbringing. Attended Jefferson Community College and Pasadena Community College. Proud father of four and grandfather to seven, and most of all, a concerned American citizen! Are you??? Categories |