Global 2012: Tiger Woods passes Jack Nicklaus for second in all-time wins

Tiger Woods, champion golfer, drives the ball down range during the inaugural Earl Woods Memorial Pro-Am Tournament, part of the AT&T National PGA Tour event, July 4, 2007, at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Woods donated 30,000 tournament tickets to military personnel to attend the event honoring soldiers and military families. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today's topic: Tiger Woods.

Believers and cynics, start your engines.

Tiger Woods, in fact, keeps turning his own ignition key, waiting for that major motor to rev.

He won Arnold Palmer's shindig at Bay Hill in March, his last tournament before the Masters … and then finished tie-40th at Augusta National.

He won Jack Nicklaus' event at Muirfield Village in early June, the last tournament before the U.S. Open … and then finished tie-21st at the Olympic Club.

And Sunday he won his own event at Congressional, a PGA Tour-leading third win of the year, his 74th career tour win, passing Nicklaus for second on the all-time list (he needs eight more to equal Sam Snead) and all any cynics can ask is: How's he going to do two weeks from Thursday at Royal Lytham & St. Annes at the British Open?

After all, to whom much is given – talent, hype, records, fame, riches, scrutiny – much is expected, as I was just saying to my good friend, LeBron James.

Tiger divides the room like Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divide common property.

On the one hand, believers say, there is no arguing with the man's game. Still piecing together his reputation and his body after significant damage to both the past few years, Tiger has won three times in 11 starts. Or, four wins in 12 starts, if you count December's Chevron Challenge. Forget the craziness of that win percentage in golf – if he was a baseball player, his .333 would have earned him an all-star berth. Move over, Melky Cabrera.

On the other hand, doubters say only a major counts as a Tiger win of significance, and he hasn't won one since 2008. In fact, after his uninspiring Masters, he placed himself squarely in the hunt at the U.S. Open in San Francisco last month. Then, he faltered under pressure on the weekend, shooting 73-73. Hmmm.

On the one hand, believers say, he produced big moment after big moment in Sunday's win. Facing a potential disaster on the 16th hole, he made a good bogey. He made a knee-knocking six-footer on the 17th hole to take the lead. He smoked a 345-yard drive center-cut on 18 when his driver is often his least reliable club. His 9-iron approach to seal the win was so purely struck, his club twirl and immediate strut told you all you need to know about how Tiger Woods handles pressure golf.

On the other hand, doubters say, his only task was to hold off the hugely undecorated Bo Van Pelt. And Van Pelt obliged, essentially handing Tiger the victory by finishing bogey-bogey-bogey when tied for the lead. Or, as the sports humor web site, The Sports Pickle, tweeted shortly after the AT&T National wrapped up: "All the critics who said Tiger Woods couldn't stare down Bo Van Pelt in the final round of a non-major look foolish now." Oh!

The argument can go on: The believers brag that Tiger shot 67-69 in weekend heat so insanely stifling, the Tour shut down Congressional to fans Saturday. Yes, say the doubters, he's fit – but he only made one putt longer than 10 feet on Sunday, raising questions about the flat stick under pressure.

Believers can crow that Sunday was a glorious day for champions who wear red – their beloved Tiger, and the incomparable world champion Spanish national soccer team, which won Euro2012. Ah, yes, doubters say – but Spain hoists the important trophies (two Euros and a World Cup) while Tiger hasn't won a major since George W. Bush was president.

Nothing spices up a Sunday afternoon like the re-emergence of Tiger Woods. Like similar lightning-rod topics – LeBron, Justin Bieber and ObamaCare come to mind – you just can't stay neutral on the guy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/golf--tiger-woods-passes-jack-nicklaus-for-second-in-all-time-wins-and-all-eyes-turn-to-the-british-open.html

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Global 2012: Tiger Woods reveals he may having a choking point after a Saturday slide at the U.S. Open

A view of Tiger Woods as he walks off the 8th green at Torrey Pines during this morning's practice round at the 2008 U.S. Open in San Diego, CA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Like a famous actor suddenly forgetting his line in front of a packed Broadway theatre or a concert pianist striking precisely the most awful note in front of a rapt Carnegie Hall audience, Tiger Woods stood over a chip shot in front of the steep, natural, densely populated amphitheatre at Olympic Club's closing hole, in the Saturday evening gloaming of the U.S. Open's third round, and absolutely flubbed a chip shot.

His golf ball nestled in a bad lie, his chip attempt went squirrelly, almost backward even. The sound of thousands of golf fans making the familiar U.S. Open "gallery gasp," as it were, was replaced by silence, and then a marveling.

Tiger Woods, in front of their very eyes, in his cream sweater and matching slacks, on a day that started with so much major-championship promise for one of the greatest players in golf history, just played himself out of a U.S. Open.

Two putts later, Tiger's 75 was complete, and the only thing left was to assess the dimensions of the disaster. There are so many ways to do so.

Let's start with the fact that of 72 players who made the cut, his 5-over score was better than only eight players. The players around him also in the late tee times, all of whom had to wonder on Saturday morning what a ball-controlling and disciplined Tiger Woods was going to unleash on the field, hammered him.

Jim Furyk, the 54-hole co-leader who played alongside Tiger, bested him by five with a 70. Graeme McDowell, the other 54-hole co-leader playing two groups ahead, beat Tiger by seven with a 68. Lee Westwood (67) blew Tiger away by eight, Fredrik Jacobson (68) by seven and even 17-year-old, braces-wearing, high-schooler Beau Hossler navigated Olympic's Lake Course five shots better than Tiger with a 70.

Ernie Els (68), Webb Simpson (68), Blake Adams (70), on and on … none of these players had any trouble adjusting to the speed of the greens – which Tiger cited as a persistent problem Saturday – or to always getting the bad break of the "half-club" distance, which Tiger also claimed as a woe.

The litany of reasons for poor play from Tiger on Saturday was so varied as to almost defy categorization of his sufferings. If you want to blame his putter – a decent place to start – you can cite his 34 putts, after averaging 30 the first two rounds, and three-putts on Nos. 3 and 8 to derail his round. The putter looked radioactively bad at times, with its wielder unsure, unsteady and certainly unconfident using it.

But to solely blame the putter means to ignore missing seven of 14 fairways, his poorest day driving the golf ball, despite sticking to the game plan of eschewing his driver on all but four holes. And to blame the driving of the golf ball means to ignore his persistent distance control issues, leading to missed greens on No. 1 (bogey), a poor chip on No. 6 (bogey), a disappointing par on No. 7 after missing on the wrong side of the green, a blown chance at birdie on No. 10 from the middle of the fairway, a drop-kicked tee shot on No. 14 that made the awful sound of earth first … should I go on?

But something else has changed, too. Tiger has gotten older, and at 36, is not even close to the putter he once was. And maybe biggest of all, there remains the nagging thought that the "Ghost of Jack," or the pressure of trying to finally catch and topple Jack Nicklaus' all-time mark of 18 major championships has produced a wear, and a stress, on Tiger's game. There is no way to quantify what may be a mental issue, but things are different in Tiger's world when, for the first time in holding a 36-hole lead or co-lead at a major, he shoots over par in the third round. In fact, only six times in 43 all-time 36-hole leads or co-leads has he shot over par in the third round – none at majors – and only once a round as bad as 75.

Is the specter of catching Nicklaus – a lifelong quest that carries with it so much attendant baggage – the 15th club in his bag?

Weekends have been weird at majors for Tiger in the recent past. He shot 74 on the Sunday at this year's Masters, and 74 on the Saturday of the 2011 Masters. In contention at Pebble Beach on the Sunday, he shot 75. Now, we have Olympic's disaster, and that may not be too strong a word for a player who was so utterly under control his first 36 holes that he earned Saturday's final tee time.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/golf--tiger-woods-reveals-he-may-having-a-choking-point-with-a-saturday-slide-at-the-u-s--open.html

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Global 2012: Tiger Woods' play at the U.S. Open is hard to predict

Tiger Woods (Photo credit: Richard Carter)
Tiger Woods is back: He's won two tournaments already this year, he's the favorite heading into the U.S. Open this week, and he's a leader for player-of-the-year honors.

Tiger Woods is not back: He hasn't won a major in four years (the 2008 U.S. Open, to be exact) and he didn't come close at this year's Masters.

Tiger Woods chip-in at No. 16 at the recent Memorial was vintage Tiger. (Getty Images)

Tiger Woods is back: Did you see that chip at 16 at the Memorial two weekends ago? Vintage Tiger!

Tiger Woods is not back: He sure isn't putting like Vintage Tiger.

So is Tiger Woods back? That question has no answer, and that's a good thing. The best thing, in fact. Because Woods is creating conversation in a way he hasn't in years. That means the sport of golf is creating conversation in a way it hasn't in years.

Is Tiger Woods back? He's back just enough.

We'll never see the original Woods again, and that's a shame, but there was a problem with that Tiger. He was a robot, so unstoppable that the other golfers on Tour looked silly by comparison. Every major was "Tiger" or "Field." Well, Woods is still a robot, but he's a robot that could go haywire. And that makes him even more watchable than before.

In his prime, the debate was whether anyone could beat him on a given weekend. Now Woods can beat himself, with bafflingly bad swings, with poor putting, even with his own temper. We saw all that at the Masters, and some wondered if Woods was "done" as prematurely as he was deemed "back" after his breakthrough win at Bay Hill in March. Woods was dreadful, mediocre and outstanding at The Players Championship, depending on when you watched. (There was even a sense he might withdraw to avoid missing the cut.) And then he was stellar at The Memorial. You can make equally valid cases for and against him at the U.S. Open.

For: He's got his new swing working, he's got momentum, and he's less liable to crumble in the heat of battle than any other golfer.

Against: This is, above all, a tournament for putters, and Woods hasn't shown the old form yet. Also, nearly half of his 73 career PGA wins have come on the same few courses, and Olympic Club isn't one of them.

We're at equilibrium with Woods, in that both the pros and the cons have plenty of ammo. That's the perfect place to be. Sports are, more than ever, about the debate and the drama, and this new Woods brings both in equal measure. He has transformed from a known known, in the old Donald Rumsfeld phraseology, into a known unknown. And that's captivating.

A decade ago, you'd tune in to see Woods clobber some fools. Now, this weekend, you'll watch in part because you don't know what to expect. Woods could clobber or be clobbered. He could clobber himself. He could get clobbered and then come back to make the fools pay. That's what happened at the Memorial, and CBS got a 138 percent ratings spike over the year before. At one point Sunday, as Woods made his charge, ratings spiked even higher. That's not because Woods is back; it's because Woods is almost back. There's a huge difference.

That's why the Memorial changed this ongoing discussion. The victory at Bay Hill was impressive but not awe-inspiring. Woods got a lead at what used to be his home course, and he held on. There was more relief than anything. But at Muirfield, with Jack Nicklaus watching every stroke, Woods had that look again. He seemed more bold than tentative, which was the look he showed often at Bay Hill. He showed he could overpower the course and the field in the way we all remember.

And yet …

He didn't beat anyone that daunting on that final day. Rory Sabbatini and Spencer Levin are not Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy. Rickie Fowler was tied with Woods heading into Sunday, but he hasn't learned how to close tournaments. And no offense to Graeme McDowell, but he wasn't a huge obstacle at Bay Hill. So even though Jim Nantz announced Tiger is "back," we still await the emphatic punctuation mark. We still await the major win.

That makes this weekend special in a way previous U.S. Opens have not been. At Bay Hill in March, several golf pundits were almost giddy, saying the 2011 Masters would be the most anticipated since Woods was in his early 20s. Because we didn't get conclusive answers about Woods at Augusta, that makes this U.S. Open even more enticing. If Woods wins, it will be a major victory that will rank with Torrey Pines in 2008 – which he won on a shredded knee – and that was perhaps the most amazing U.S. Open 'ever.

The best part of all this is the looming possibility that Woods might just complete a return trip from self-imposed hell. A major victory would cause us to look back at his climb from shame and look forward to every major tournament from now until 2015 (and possibly beyond). At this point in history, Jack Nicklaus is unquestionably the best golfer of all time. But if Woods somehow wins five more majors, that view may change. Woods' return to greatness would be a story for the ages.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/golf--tiger-woods--play-at-the-u-s--open-is-hard-to-predict.html

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