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For those of you who play fanatasy golf, you probably didn't have a difficult time choosing Tiger Woods to be in the lineup.  I know I didn't.  After the first and second rounds of this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, I was 50% worried that he wasn't going to win and 50% sure that he was going to win.  The only reason why I was as much as 50% sure that he was going to win was because I've seen him do it before.  But you never know...he could have a "bad" round, or someone else could put on a clinic and break the course record - a million different scenarios can play out in any tournament, but the surest thing to bet on these days is Tiger, no matter what.

At the end of the first round, Fred Couples had fired an early 65 to take the lead at -5.  Tiger was E with a 70.  Five shots isn't a whole lot to make up over the course of four rounds, but it's a decent amount.  Many players shot good scores on Thursday.

The next day Vijay Singh went berserk and ended up being the leader after the second round at -9.  Tiger shot a -2 68, 7 shots back.

It appeared to me at this point that two things were going to happen.  First, that Tiger wasn't going to win this tournament.  Other players kept on shooting low scores and there was a large gap between -2 and -9.  He hadn't won here in 4 years and the defending champion Singh appeared to be playing VERY well.  Second, that all of the other players, somehow, in some way, would come crashing down in spectacular fashion, therefore paving the way for another Tiger victory.  I missed the entire third round but when I logged on to check the scores what I saw was both surprising and not surprising at all - Tiger Woods tied for a 1st place -6 score along with 4 other players. 

Somehow, that -9 number posted by Vijay vanished as well as any other players' hopes of winning.  When everyone else was having a hard time dealing with the swirling winds, Tiger goes on to shoot a -4 66 to place him tied for 1st place.  Ridiculous 4-iron cut shots to within 3 feet of the pin and other insane shenanigans allowed Tiger to take full advantage of his incredible talents while others folded like a house of cards on a windy day.  After 3 rounds if Tiger is leading or tied for the lead, he is 42-3 for tournament wins.  Stunning.

I feel bad for Bart Bryant.  He was the only dude to shoot 4 rounds in the 60's, the first time in 20 years that's happened at this tournament.  He stuck shot after shot after shot all day long, but to show you what kind of stuff you have to deal with when playing Tiger, consider this:  Tiger ended up 3-putting the 10th hole from about 7 feet.  That's nuts.  There's a better chance of snow in July than a 3-putt from Tiger from 7 feet.  The score was tied at -8 for about 5 minutes, when all of a sudden Bryant 3-putted the 11th for a bogey.  Bryant played his heart out and was left watching Tiger finish out the round in the scoring booth.  A 5-iron to within 24 feet is what Tiger served up.  Tiger needed to make the putt to win outright.  Afer careful analyzation, Tiger stood over the put and pulled the trigger.

How many of  you were thinking, "Yeah, this is falling in..." ?

How many of you were surprised when it happened?  EVERYONE was surprised!  It's a 24 foot downhill bender for the win!  Yet at the same time, NO ONE WAS SURPIRISED!   How is that even possible?!?

From the scoring booth, Bryant chuckled while eating his candy bar and just shook his head.  There isn't much these guys can do, they're basically at Tiger's mercy. 

Even if you don't follow golf, even if you don't know the history of the game, please understand that what we're seeing here in watching Tiger Woods is something so extraordinary and incredible that I highly doubt anyone will ever come along and repeat or surpass him.  He's taking down legend after legend, record after record, each time he steps on the course.  The PGA Tour's slogan "These guys are good" is 100% true, but when Tiger is involved he just seems to make everyone else seem totally insignificant. 

The beatdowns will continue.  These tournaments are clearly marathons and not sprints, and Tiger keeps on proving this to us time and time again. 

 

Posted by vaca22 at 02:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A few nights ago I came home and parked the car in the garage like I usually do. I stood outside the garage and reached around the metal guide rail to hit the button to close the door, leaning far into the garage while keeping my feet on the driveway so as to not trip the safety sensor. I looked up at the stars and started counting the planes that flew overhead - one, two, three…four, five….it's amazing how much air traffic there when you stop and actually count. I tried looking for Mars. Ah! Found it. It didn't appear as red as it had a few months ago. But something just didn't feel right to me. Why was star-gazing and plane-watching so mesmerizing all of a sudden? Why did it feel kind of strange? Then it all came to me…

It was because I was standing outside, but this time I wasn't freezing my ass off.

For the first time in months, I didn't feel the kind of bitter cold that comes from within, the kind of cold that makes the very center of your body shiver and shake. The kind of cold that makes doing anything outside a miserable experience. As if taking out the garbage isn't a crappy enough task, the crappiness of it is compounded when it's so cold out that your eyes feel cold and it hurts to inhale the cold air. 16 degrees. Awesome. It can get so cold here sometimes that the properties of the garbage bags and the very jacket that you have on to keep you warm actually change. The plastic becomes rigid and stiff, as does the jacket, making sounds when crinkling that just don't sound normal for plastic and fabric. But the other night was different. It was soothing to be standing there, enjoying the "warmer", almost 50 degree weather. How cold would you be if in June or July the temperature suddenly dropped to 45 or 50 degrees? I've played golf on early fall mornings when the temperature was 55 to me it was almost unbearable, yet that night as I stood outside looking up I felt as if I could have easily thrown on a sweater and played in those conditions.

We are 4 days removed from what could possibly be my most favorite day of the year, running a very close 2nd behind Christmas (and only because it's tough to supplant those amazing childhood memories of Christmas that I have, and that I hope you have as well). I'm sick of early sunsets. I'm sick of cold weather. I'm sick of not hearing birds when I wake up. I'm sick of seeing either snow, sand, salt or any combination of the three that pollutes our sidewalks and roadways for weeks on end. Double-click right now if you're as big a fan of Daylight Savings Time as I am.

Daylight Savings Time allows me to get on the course at 7:30 in the evening and play 9 holes. Try thinking about that when you're driving home from work and it's dark out at 5:30. It's amazing what a little sun can do for you.

Spring is on it's way. Dust off those clubs and organize your bag…the battle with winter is almost over and the light at the end of the tunnel is shining brighter than ever.

Posted by vaca22 at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)