Can We Please Talk About Who’s Winning?
For cryin’ out loud. If I didn’t know any better I’d say Tiger Woods is the only one on the golf course. After all, the minds talk about him incessantly. And you know something, if Woods should happen to not come back (as has been asked numerous times between last night and early this morning) and claim the U.S. Open title, it won’t be for lack of the media pushing the issue. It will be for his play.
If Woods cannot dig his way out of a five shot deficit, those mouthpieces will owe each and everyone of us an apology. Make that a huge apology.
Ever since the end of the first round at the U.S. Open, we’ve heard that Tiger will win. Johnny Miller, Dan Hicks, Rich Lerner and Brandel Chamblee (and a slew of others), at a minimum owe us that. Miller and Chamblee wanted to hand him the trophy after the first round. Miller said something like engrave his name on the trophy. Chamblee referred to him as the “de facto leader” even after being three shots back after day 1 and tied after day 2. Lerner opined on multiple occasions if Woods could come back. Hicks went a bit of a different direction.
After yesterday’s third round, Hicks said something along the lines of everybody thought Woods would win afgter the first round…
Wrong, Dan. Your partner did. Your new co-horts at Golf Channel did. Those at ESPN have wanted the same. Rick Reilly decided that TW and LeBron James are of a similar ilk and proceeded to tell us why.
And a couple of other things that grind on me.
One, stop comparing Tiger of today to Tiger of a decade ago. You know he’s clearly not the same player so why in the blue blazes are you doing it? We know he isn’t and we’re not falling for your tricks. Yep, he’s got two wins this year…and so do Hunter Mahan and Jason Dufner.
Two, when Tiger plays poorly, stop finding excuses for his poor play. Honestly, you are doing TW, all the other players, and, more importantly, golf fans a severe disservice. You’re completely discrediting the play of others and you’re insulting the collective intelligence of golf fans everywhere. Most of all, you’re covering for a guy whose game can no longer be “covered” due to all the coverage. (Say that fast three times in a row!)
How did I come about this one? Well, ESPNNewYork’s Ian O’Connor has a theory why Woods shot a 75 yesterday…it’s because he was playing with Jim Furyk and they are friends.
"But if Woods fails to make history at this Open, it won’t necessarily be because he played with the wrong putter.It might be because he played with the wrong guy.— Ian O’Connor on ESPNNewYork.com"
Again, O’Connor is taking credit away from Furyk and diverting the attention squarely onto TW. Truly astounding…in a negative way. Would it hurt to give Furyk all the credit he deserves, and then some more. Way to strip a great player of his deserved moment. Jim Furyk is tied for the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open, but that angle isn’t as delicious. Furyk outdueled Tiger on this day…because he made more shots.
I got a better one. If Woods doesn’t win it’s because he didn’t make the shots those that finished ahead of him were able to make. That’s not a ground breaker either. It’s common sense.
So Furyk is tied with Graeme McDowell for the lead at -1. He carded three birdies and three bogeys on round. And on those first six holes that the “experts” are saying can make or break a round, Furyk was +2 yesterday. For the week, he’s +1. On a golf course that at times appears to be brutal, Furyk only has six bogeys over the first three rounds.
McDowell is a bit of a contrast to Furyk in that he hasn’t been a little (and I do mean little) less consistent. He had six bogeys in his second round alone. He has carded nine bogeys during the week. He’s been just a little more up-and-down that Furyk.
If Furyk and McDowell can keep the other players below them on the leaderboard, a second U.S. Open win will be among their accomplishments. Winning two majors could greatly enhance his chances of getting into the Hall of Fame. McDowell would be the third straight player from Northern Ireland to win the U.S. Open. He did it in 2010 at Pebble Beach. Rory McIlroy claimed the title at Congressional just last year.
You could say I’m letting all of this get to me…and you would be correct in your analysis.