One day Tiger Woods will lose a tournament he led after three rounds. It’s inevitable.
For now, however, Tiger is money like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett. He may not yet be the greatest golfer of all time, but nobody goes for the jugular like Woods.
Just ask Luke Donald, who was even with Woods after three rounds of the PGA Tournament. Without showing any disrespect, Donald said that someone would eventually beat him. Mike Weir, coming off a third-round 65, said the same thing. Donald finished six strokes behind, Weir seven back.
In fact, nobody was closer than five strokes as Woods won his 12th major title. Nothing unusual here. Remember, Woods won this first Masters by 12 strokes and the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach by 15. Now that’s finishing.
He invokes memories of a young Mike Tyson. When Tyson had a fighter hurt, he moved in for the kill. We all know what happened to Tyson when he tasted the fame and fortune. Bet that doesn’t happen to Tiger.
The man is driven like no other athlete. Those who don’t appreciate his artistry on the course point out that he doesn’t play as often as they would like and occasionally shows emotion and lets a four-letter word slip. Yes, Woods is human.
Before anyone dares to say he is a poor role model, look at his Tigers Woods Learning Foundation in Anaheim and other foundation projects. That more than compensates for an occasional slip of the tongue.
Jack Nicklaus was driven, but he had family and a burgeoning golf course design business to occupy his time. Woods has a single-mindedness unseen in the sport.
It’s easy to say that Tiger is more talented than other golfers, that he started earlier.
John Daly has as much talent as Woods. Daly can hit a golfball with the best of them, but you truly appreciate his talent when you see the touch he has around the greens. Any comparison between Daly and Woods ends with talent.
If Daly had one-tenth of Woods’ dedication, he would be up there with Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and other excellent golfers. But Daly doesn’t respect the game. Daly is revered because he he looks like so many of us, carrying around an extra 100 pounds, puffing on cigarettes and knocking back a six-pack.
Woods merely huffs and puffs over opponents and knocks them around with the glee of a young Tyson. Twelve major knockouts says it’s so.
