Masterful Tiger Woods took wind out of Tom
Kite
By Chuck Culpepper / Knight Ridder Newspapers
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- I am about to compare Tom Kite and Tiger Woods
to horses. This does not mean I think Tom Kite and Tiger Woods
look like horses, behave like horses or maintain the intelligence
of horses. The relation of Tom Kite and Tiger Woods to two particular
horses comes strictly in terms of competition -- in terms of order-of-finish.
Besides, these words are headed to Kentucky, which is home to
certain pockets of people who believe comparing a human to a horse
is an insult to the horse.
Now, then: At the 1997 Masters, Tom Kite was like that horse.
Whoever that horse was.
Whoever that horse was who finished second to Secretariat in
the 1973 Belmont Stakes.
Tom Kite was like that horse.
It is an achievement to finish second in the Belmont Stakes,
and it is an achievement to finish second in the Masters by shooting
a perfectly fine 77-69-66-70 for a perfectly fine 6-under-par
282, as did Kite.
It's just that that second-place horse, whoever that was, was
31 lengths behind Secretariat.
And Tom Kite, who still may be reasonably famous 25 years from
now, will not be well-known for finishing second at the 1997 Masters,
for he finished a staggering 12 shots behind Tiger Woods.
These seconds were such distant seconds, they should have been
fourths.
The officials-that-were should have removed the second place
and the third place from the charts, marked them "vacant
due to incomprehensible domination."
They should have given Tom Kite his $291,600, his silver medal
and his silver serving tray, then taken back $145,800, put the
tray in dining-room storage and let him keep the medal.
It was like finishing second to a tsunami; almost nobody remembers
anything but the tsunami.
If, for instance, you remember who finished second to Secretariat
25 years ago this June, you qualify as a nut. So be who you are
and love yourself.
If you remember who finished second to Tiger Woods 12 months
ago, you also qualify as a nut.
If you already knew both, you know too much and are a danger
to society.
According to Tom Kite, there are plenty of nuts running around,
just as I've always suspected since being old enough to recognize.
On Tuesday, he reported he has received ample congratulations
from fellow Americans on a fine performance at the 1997 Masters.
"Oh yeah, a lot of people know," he said. "A lot
of people have realized. You know, Tiger was the story last year,
no question about it. But a lot of people know that I played well,
and I'm sure Tommy Tolles, who finished third, there are a lot
of folks who know that he played well. It's not totally forgotten.
"It will be, though."
Everyone yawned and immediately forgot who finished second
last year.
Usually when you get second place, you get to sit around with
a bunch of pesky what-ifs and tell yourself time just ran out
too quickly. Tom Kite can help himself to these thoughts, as well,
but his case is unique.
While many a second-place golfer can say, "If only I'd
made that putt on 15, I'd have had him," Kite can say, "If
only I'd made those eight putts on Thursday and those two on Friday
and one on Saturday and one on Sunday, I'd have pulled into a
tie, in which case I still would have lost in the playoff."
While many a second-place golfer can say, "One more hole
and I'd have caught him," Kite can say, "One more month
and I'd have caught him."
Tom Kite, the second-place golfer from last year, sat down
yesterday.
"Last year was a good run for me, especially the last
three rounds."
Say, did you realize Tiger Woods broke 20 Masters records last
year?
Kite: "I'm trying to build on that and bring some good
memories in here."
Yes, that's right, 20: lowest 72-hole score, youngest champion,
widest margin of victory, lowest score the last 54 holes, largest
lead after 54, youngest leader after 54, most strokes under par
on the second nine (an inconceivable 16-under across four rounds),
most strokes under par around Amen Corner (seven), and on and
on.
Kite: "I've been playing fairly well here throughout the
years but still lacking a green jacket I "
Woods, by the way, never once three-putted and never played
a hole on the back nine in anything poorer than par. His green
jacket has remained in his closet all year, shown to friends only
"if they asked," he said yesterday. His trophy is his
centerpiece on his desk in his living room.
Even those who saw the inspiring sight of Kite winning the
1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach hardly recognize him since he had
some funky eye surgery that improved his vision from 20/500 to
20/20 in 25 minutes and helped him toss aside his trademark bug-eyed
glasses.
Meanwhile, there are believed to be three Americans who do
not recognize Woods anymore, all three said to be living near
Barrow, Alaska. "I guess when I first realized the magnitude
(of last year) once I got back here," Woods said, "was
playing golf (Monday evening), when I'm out there all by myself,
it's 7 o'clock, and there are about a thousand people out there
following you on a Monday evening screaming my name and wanting
me to look this way, look that way, look this way, look that way
for a picture. That wasn't the case last year. I played nine holes
in absolute solitude last year."
First place and second place usually meet, dance and live forever
in memory as intertwined, but every once in a while they don't
seem to belong even in the same event. Secretariat in the Belmont
was an ultimate example of that until last year at the Masters,
when Woods came along to trump it by carrying such domination
across four days.
And Kite whittled and worked his way to a highly anonymous
second place.
Much like Twice A Prince.
Yeah, that's it.
That other horse's name.
Twice A Prince.
(c) 1998, Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.).
Visit Kentucky Connect, the World Wide Web site of the Herald-Leader,
at http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/
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