Thursday, June 20,
2002
Tiger in a class
by himself
By Jim Donaldson
The Providence Journal
PROVIDENCE -- The
amazing thing about Tiger Woods is not how good he is, but how
much better he is than everybody else.
With his victory
over the weekend in the U.S. Open, Tiger now has won six of the
last nine majors, including back-to-back Masters.
No one _ not Hogan,
not Palmer, not Watson, not Snead, not even Nicklaus _ has ever
won so many majors in such a short span of time.
And not once has
Tiger lost a major when he had at least a share of the lead heading
into the final round.
His play brings to
mind the remark by former Houston Oilers coach "Bum"
Phillips, when asked if star running back Earl Campbell was in
a class by himself.
"I dunno `bout
that," Bum drawled, "but it sure don't take long to
call the roll."
Tiger truly is in
a class by himself, as he proved yet again over the weekend at
wet and wild Bethpage Black.
There are no bona
fide contenders to his dominance, only pretenders; no real challengers,
only foils.
Phil Mickelson? Please.
Mickelson is 0-for-40 in major championships. Tiger has won eight
majors and is only 26 years old.
Mickelson has had
his chances to tame Tiger, but always gets gobbled up. He was
a shot behind Woods going into the final round of last year's
Masters and finished three back. He was four behind Tiger this
year at Augusta and never threatened. Sunday at Bethpage, he trimmed
two shots off Woods's lead, but still lost by three.
Sergio Garcia? He
shot off his mouth about Tiger early in the tournament and then
couldn't make the shots he needed on Sunday. In second place,
four shots behind Woods heading into the final round, Garcia faded
to fourth, six shots in arrears.
Sergio also was four
shots behind Tiger going into the final round of the Masters this
year and shot 75 on Sunday.
Instead of standing
up to Tiger, the best players in the world fold up. When he's
on the lead in a major, no one can catch him.
The leaderboard was
a veritable Who's Who's of World Golf heading into the final round
at the Masters this year, with Retief Goosen tied with Tiger for
the lead, followed closely by the likes of Vijay Singh, Mickelson,
Garcia, Ernie Els and Jose-Maria Olazabal.
Instead of making
a run at Tiger, they all ran away.
Woods is far and
away the world's best player. Everybody else is playing for second.
Tiger won the U.S.
Open at Pebble Beach in 2000 by an almost unfathomable 15 shots,
shattering a tournament record for margin of victory that had
stood for more than a century _ since Willie Anderson won the
1899 Open at Baltimore Country Club by 11.
That also was the
largest margin of victory ever in any major championship, surpassing
the 13-shot win by "Old Tom" Morris in the British Open
of 1862 at Prestwick, Scotland.
And one more thing
about the 2000 Open _ Tiger was the only player of 156 in the
field to break par. He also was the only player to break par at
Bethpage over the weekend.
As for his British
Open victory at St. Andrews in 2000 _ a win that made him, at
the age of 24 years, 6 months and 23 days, the youngest player
ever to have won all four majors _ Tiger dominated the field there,
as well, romping home by 8 shots over Thomas Bjorn and Ernie Els
while setting a tournament record by finishing 19 under par.
At the Masters in
`97, when he was only 21, Woods set tournament records for lowest
score (270) and margin of victory _ a stunning 12 shots over Tom
Kite.
David Duval came
closest to Tiger at Augusta in 2001, finishing two shots back
after a final-round 67 that was one better than Woods's closing
68.
But nobody really
came close this year, as the field fell away from Tiger on the
final day.
Tiger's back-to-back
PGA titles in 1999 and 2000 were close affairs, as he edged Garcia
by a shot to win the first, then beat Bob May _ Bob May? _ in
a three-hole playoff to repeat.
Woods is, indeed,
amazing.
And the most amazing
thing is not how good he is, but how much better he is than everybody
else.
When he won the Masters
in 2001, Tiger became the first man to hold all four of the modern
major titles at the same time.
Now, with his win
at Bethpage, he has won six of the last nine.
He is on a roll that
has put him in a class by himself, absolutely the only name on
the roll.
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