Tiger is back. And not the grumpy, distracted Tiger with the loopy swing. Not the Tiger with the Swedish supermodel wife or the Buick commercials or Nike deals. Not the Tiger that fired his coach Butch Harmon or couldn’t buy a straight drive. But the kid Tiger, with the eyes, and the fist-pump, and the roar. And the question is, did you miss him?It was indeed a masterful performance at Augusta, complete with another `shot-heard-round-the-world’ and a couch-clenching finish at the end. The weather seemed perfect, it was perfect, and all eyes were on the world’s best #2 golfer as he further cemented his place among the icons with his fourth Masters’ win. Only one of “the big four” came out on top, and, for most of us, it seemed like the right one. The gifted one.
After a disappointing (albeit not unexpected) 74 on opening day, Tiger rebounded with a spectacular weekend, carding a tournament-best 66 in round 2 and then bettering that with a 65 in round 3. Chilling, it was. The kid couldn’t miss. He notched seven straight birdies (tying a tournament record) and barely broke a sweat under the hot Georgian sun. Ernie Els has always been called `the big easy’ but Tiger made it look like arithmetic.
He didn’t finish without a struggle, though, and the drama was there. All the credit in the world should be given to Chris DiMarco, who did something no other golfer had ever done: stayed with Tiger Woods in a major. One could argue that Woods put himself in jeopardy and forced his own playoff when he bogeyed the last two holes. But DiMarco didn’t falter in the clutch, as others have done before him (namely Phil Mickelson), and played a lion to Tiger’s tiger, evening up to his opponent based on sure willpower and competitiveness.
But, come on. He really didn’t stand a chance, did he? Not on this day, not when the sun was this right, the course this perfect, the day this surreal. Not after the chip on 16, the miracle shot that kept Woods two strokes up. Not after the late charge he made to rip past Mickleson, Vijay, Goosen, and Lehman, among others. Not after his dad, ill and bedridden in an Augustan hospital, made the “trek” just to be where his son was playing. This was surely Tiger’s day, and, while it took 19 holes to prove it, prove it he did.
And, for all I know, it will be Tiger’s year. All tickets for the bandwagon express are now available, because there were plenty of seats. But they’re going fast. For almost two years now we’ve criticized him, scrutinized him, insulted and tried to correct him. We’ve analyzed his swing and his private life. We’ve questioned his desire and his entrepreneurship. We’ve been disgusted by his talent and his inability to capitalize on it. We’ve been here, waiting, watching, believing that he was just too good to be true. And like Gretzky, like Ali, like Jordan, and like Nicklaus, he’s proved us wrong. It just took one special day to do it.
I’ve never believed in the “gods of golf”, never really bought into the whole idea that someone is with you, helping you, guiding you. Tiger says it was his dad. And there are certainly words, and memories, and images that can reverberate through your mind and system as you set up for a putt to win the Masters. But Tiger is too good for that kind of foolishness, the supernatural card game of fate and luck.
Sure, he’s still got loops in his swing and a recklessness that makes him put it 30 yds to three-o-clock from the 17th tee. He still misses some putts and flubs some chips. He’s still selling shirts and shoes and hats and going home to a supermodel. But it sure feels good, doesn’t it, to watch him win. There is an indescribable electricity to his play. And while I was too young to see Nicklaus or Gretzky or Ali or most of Jordan’s career, Tiger is my sport-defining athlete, the one that sends the chills down my back.
And boy it sure feels good to see him roar again.
One reply on “Proving his stripes- again”
interesting take on the masters. I’m much more of a fan of the “human interest” (rather than the box scores and play by play) so i really enjoyed this. Only suggestion would be to break up your paragraphs because it was daunting to see that much copy. But I still enjoyed it, nice piece.