BELIEVE IN TIGER

Over the past few days I have witnessed some unbelievable moments that may never happen again in my lifetime. One word really sums up this weekend-- TIGER. There is no question that Tiger Woods is the number one golf player in the world after this past weekend. When the crowd was becoming restless, the advertisers thinking they wasted their money, and the TV Audience thinking Tiger was finished, TIGER came through with two huge putts and one lucky shot. On Saturday, his putt on the 13th hole brought back the fond memories of Tiger Woods when he hit the professional scene back in the 1990's. Then, he was able to get a lucky break on the 17th green as he worked through what appeared to be a throbbing knee pain and to chip in the hole from an awkward position. As I continued to watch with my family wondering what Tiger could do on the 18th hole, we began saying he is coming back, but his knee will not hold up. Sure enough he nailed a putt on the 18th to take the lead going into the final round. Tiger now had statistics on his side, as his percentage of winning when leading following the third round is almost a perfect 100%. I thought that Tiger would now coast in for the finish with a decent round, but that did not happen either.

Woods was able to pull off more impossible tasks, and create a roar from the crowd on what could have been his 54th and final hole of the tournament, that may have registered as a small level earthquake. Being from Louisiana and an LSU fan, the roar and the response from the crowd sounded like something that could take place in Death Valley. After Rocco essentially said that you can never count on Tiger messing up, I knew that Rocco Mediate was in for a long 18 hole playoff.

The playoff round was as much fun to watch as the rest of the tournament combined. The golf was far from perfect, but both players managed to play scratch golf. Not only was 54 holes not enough, but 72 holes was not enough either. It took a 73rd hole, hole number 7, to end the tournament. Overall, it was fun to see how much respect the two professional athletes had for each other, and to see how worn out they were as well. I can say that I can't wait for the next US Open or at least the excitement factor that I experienced this weekend.

The Masters

Yesterday was the final round of my favorite major championship in golf-- The Masters. I watched bits and pieces of the tournament from Thursday to Saturday and had full intentions of watching or listening to almost all of the final round on Sunday, but something was not happening fast enough for me. What was that something that was missing? It was Tiger Woods making a comeback to win his fifth green jacket of his career. I am normally for the underdog, but Tiger just has that element that makes me want to always see him on top. I like seeing him make the long putts as he did on the 11th hole on Sunday, and I wish he could have made a couple on the 13th-18th holes to cause some excitement. Like I said, I had full intentions of watching or listening to almost all of the final round, but I did not because Tiger was not making a big enough run for the championship. I am happy for Trevor Immelman for winning his first green jacket and following in the footsteps of his mentor and fellow South African Gary Player, but I still wish Tiger could have pulled it off. Trevor Immelman did break one of Tiger's records though; he was 10-under on Par 4's for the tournament. In one interview today, Immelman said that he did not look at the scoreboard at all and did not know where he stood after the double bogey on 16. I find that impressive to have so much self-discipline. He did say that his caddie told him he was still doing fine, but his caddie never told him exactly how he stood or who was behind him. Next year, It will be Trevor Immelman presenting the green jacket to someone, and maybe it will be a someone who was receiving his fifth green jacket, but until then I will continue to cheer for the favorite as Tiger plays for the other three championships and many other PGA events for the remainder of the season.