Saturday, April 07, 2007

Can't stop thinking about Woods

I know what you’re thinking – Tiger’s going to win another Masters.
It’s what Tiger’s thinking.
It’s what almost everyone, maybe even Stuart Appleby, Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington, is thinking.
It’s what I’m thinking.
But this Masters is different than any Masters since Ban-Lon went out of style.
It’s cold. It’s windy. It’s beyond tough.
It’s fair but only in a cruel sense because no one, not even the talented Mr. Woods, can tame Augusta National when it’s presented this way.
They’re playing last man standing in the final round of this Masters.
That’s why Woods is the obvious pick with 18 holes remaining. He hasn’t played his best golf – he’s hit a few too many loose shots and guessed wrong a few times with the wind – but there’s no one tougher with a golf club in their hand.
Hand Tiger a 7-iron and he could stare down Godzilla.
Stuart Appleby is a nice fellow and would be the first guy to ever win the Masters with surfer dude hair. But his major championship record is filled with unforgettable performances and it makes you wonder if he can get it done playing alongside Tiger.
Asked if he’d ever beaten Tiger at anything in their play time around Orlando, Appleby said, “No, no and no.”
And that’s all we need to know about that.
Justin Rose, still as baby-faced as the day he was born, is growing into a world-class player but the sense is he doesn’t have what this Sunday will demand.
Who does, other than Woods?
Padraig Harrington. He’s tougher than a $2 steak and it showed when he dunked a shot into the pond at the 15th, swallowed a double bogey then birdied the inexplicably diabolical 17th hole to get right back in the tournament.
Sunday at the Masters is what people dream about.
Right now, the same thought is running through almost everyone’s mind.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ron, Tiger has won all four of his Green Jackets staying with Mark O'Meara in a home owned by a close friend of mine. Although not the same dwelling as before, it was the same bed. He's there again this year. It's an automatic call. He wins his fifth today!

I truly appreciate your fine work.

Roy Campbell, Jr.