Breaking PGA news: Tiger doesn't win
By Brian Schmitz
Orlando Sentinel
(KRT)
ORLANDO, Fla. - The PGA Tour stars breathed a huge sigh of
relief - and maybe a few flat-bellies secretly high-fived - after
Tiger Woods returned their game to them like an overdue library
book.
They know it is back just on loan, of course. The David Frosts
of the world better enjoy these infrequent interludes because
the Colonial Open will only serve to refine Superkid's focus.
Yes, Orlando's Tiger, the planet's Tiger, lost a golf tournament
on Sunday.
It is something that routinely happens to about 75 guys every
Sunday, but not to Woods and not when he shouldn't, which is the
point. Tiger loses, and it is news. Bigger news than Frost's winning.
It's film-at-11 stuff. Notify Ripley's. And call those teams of
specialists in Sweden who have been studying and analyzing Wonder
Woods.
Turns out, he is human after all.
There was that suspicion, naturally, given the cruel nature
of golf. The game is an equal-opportunity humbler for phenom or
fumbler, never truly mastered, although Tiger has come as close
to taming it as anybody since Scots played in kilts.
We really don't want to admit to Woods being a mortal, much
less see it verified before our eyes on a Sunday in Texas. We
want to hitch a ride on his star and watch something special,
something memorable, something we've never seen before or maybe
ever will again. We don't care if he wins every time because such
exhilarating domination is never dull or detached.
It's a feeling in sports you cherish, but seldom experience,
unless you follow Michael Jordan.
Few stars, if any, transcend sport and tote such weighty expectations.
As with Jordan and Woods, you know you are witnessing genius when
a result short of a victory and a virtuoso performance produces
a letdown.
Like Michael, Woods finds himself competing with his burgeoning
legend - at 21. He must push the boulder up the mountaintop, and
race it down the other side, hoping it doesn't catch and crush
him.
Why, Tiger at the Colonial not only double-bogeyed twice down
the stretch, but - get this - hit some balls short. And fat. Short
and fat are words not linked to the links occupied by Woods. His
legendary length then at times sent his ball sailing over the
greens, forcing him to hit out of the crabgrass lies us weekend
duffers always visit.
One of Tiger's shots even jack-knifed into the water he has
been walking on.
But we see that Tiger bogeys not only like the rest of us,
but like the rest of his fellow tour pros.
They have been waiting for evidence that Woods was of this
universe.
Tiger prowled Ben Hogan's haunt in Texas looking for a third
straight victory and sixth in 17 tries. There was a sense he could
win every weekend, as improbable as it sounded. He had made history
of all kinds at the Masters, and there were whispers he could
win the Grand Slam, also annexing the U.S. Open, British Open
and PGA Championship.
Woods had the tour on its heels since an opening 40 on the
front nine at Augusta, playing the next 63 holes in 22 under and
recording 10 consecutive rounds in the 60s.
And you'd figured the roll would continue when Woods briefly
seized the lead at the Colonial on the final day and sniffed all
around it as the shadows grew long. But after Tiger failed to
conjure the magic three holes from the end, Frost was seen on
TV celebrating from the safety of the clubhouse, which is the
best place to battle Woods. Finish early, out of his gaze, and
pray your score holds up. Or Tiger's falls apart.
Don't think there weren't a few high-fives out of Woods' view.
Players apparently resented his handling of the spat with Fuzzy
Zoeller, but you can't help but believe their resentment is fueled
by common jealousy.
Woods is not just hogging the trophies and prize money, but
dwarfing the entire golfing kingdom. He is rocking their world.
He is disturbing the PGA's fraternity of fat-cats who have become
content amassing place-and-show money instead of fighting for
titles.
Too bad. The new kid in town has that lean and hungry look.
The rest of the tour escaped Tiger Woods on a Sunday in Texas,
but there are many future sundowns to dread.
(Brian Schmitz is a sports columnist for the Orlando Sentinel.
Write to him at: Orlando Sentinel, 633 North Orange Avenue, Orlando,
Fla. 32801)
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