It's a stat that almost seems inflated. In major championships, the toughest golf tournaments with the toughest fields in the world, Tiger Woods, the best golfer of the best in the world, is 14-for-14 when leading after 54 holes. He's never lost. Never.
More Coverage: Padraig Bounces Back | Live Leaderboard
Sunday, at the PGA Championship, Tiger is again in the lead of a major championship, two shots ahead of Y.E. Yang, Padraig Harrington, but in an interesting situation. See, Tiger has spent all season battling a golf swing that tends to get stuck behind him, forcing Tiger to speed up through contact and block his shots right. Since Woods is probably the most talented golfer ever, he can play with this swing for the most part, recovering from errant tee shots with amazing seconds from the rough and a good short game that merits all the praise it receives.
The problem, as we saw at Turnberry, is the swing struggles in wind.
When you're putting spin on a golf ball with no wind, it's playable. When the wind picks up, the ball can really get away from you. On Saturday, as my father and most of America probably thought, Tiger was expected to leave the 18th green with a six shot lead. We all figured he'd go out, fire a nice little 68 and shake the hands of his fellow losers. "Thanks for coming guy, enjoy the shrimp tartar." It's a reaction, like closing your eyes when you sneeze, that when Tiger is leading, we expect him to keep extending it. He's the only golfer to ever convince his fans that doing something like that is normal. (Note to everyone: It's not normal.)
So what happens if Tiger has a bad day? What if his ball plugs in a bunker on two or he blocks a drive right on 16 into the lake? What if a couple of putts that go in spin out and we see the disdain on his face that comes with a missed opportunity? Is it possible that Tiger Woods could, gulp, lose?
I really believe so. At some point, he's going to have to. This game cannot be beat, and Tiger has done that in these championships. The numbers and the history books and the bad swings can't be avoided by anyone, not even Mr. Woods.
If you can look past the horrible wind analogy here, this might be the perfect storm. A tough field chasing, with a guy fresh on his heels (Paddy) that is in desperate need of some redemption from a year he's excited to forget. A day when the weather isn't perfect on a course that asks for a lot of drivers.
Maybe today is the day we see Tiger fail. Like a five-footer for birdie on a sunny Sunday afternoon, two things can happen -- either it can go in or it can't. Maybe this will be Tiger's one missed putt.
(Also, we will be Tweetin' the final round all day today. You can follow me right here, and Greg Couch, right here.)
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
I don't care. I used to care about golf but I stopped when golf coverage stopped being golf coverage and became Tiger coverage. The sport is bigger than any player. No one follows that rule anymore it seems.
wow, you don't like all the tiger coverage yet here you are on a site about tiger. hypocrite! don't like him, fine. don't watch. your loss. but there are more people who like tiger and watch because of tiger. you people are well out numbered.....GO TIGER. heres wishing you well today whether you win or not. its gonna be fun to watch
You will start to see today why Tiger will never surpass Jack in major wins. He will put such pressure on himself (as he nears his lifelong dream of 19 majors) that not even TW can handle the pressure.
hey, 'stinko', you probably choke getting out of bed. you don't get to the final group of a major championship because you have choked. he might win and he might not but its stll gonna be fun to watch....GO TIGER!
Now elpgolfer, do you understand what I was telling you? You will see my wisdom as you watch TW struggle year after year to get to 19 majors. It ain't gonna happen.
====================================================== AS A GOLFER, I CAN SAY THAT I ENJOY SEEING TIGER PLAY AND HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH HIS DOMINATING THE TOUR. BUT HIS ANTICS ON THE COURSE LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED. HE CONTINUALLY BANGS HIS CLUBS WHEN HE HITS A BAD SHOT, THEN AT TIMES YOU CAN HEAR HIM UTTER PROFANITY KNOWING DAMN WELL THAT THE MICROPHONE IS TRAINED ON HIM. THIS IS NOT THE HALLMARK OF SOMEONE I WANT MY KIDS TO EMULATE NO MATTER HOW SUCCESSFUL HE IS AT HIS CRAFT. AND PLEASE DON'T TELL ME I'M JEALOUS OF THE MAN. ============
TIGER! We love you and we are proud of you! We are sorry you did not win today but you are still #1!!!!.
congratulations to Y.E. Yang. you played great. and to Tiger you gave it your all and showed grace in defeat. it was fun to watch....
"elpgolfer" ...Hello?...Helloooo? Where are you now you big loud mouth?! I've seen your idiotic comments before. You and Tiger ought to get a hotel room together. He will never reach Jack's record...so, live it and shut your obnoxious pie hole!