Is Tiger Woods Best Ever?
By Tim Peterson
He had the red shirt on. You knew it was over. When it’s Sunday and Tiger Woods is wearing his red shirt you know the rest of the competition is finished. Woods is the only guy I know that when behind has his opponent right where he wants him.
Woods was three strokes down heading into the final day of the tournament Sunday at the Bridgestone Invitational. So naturally he had the advantage. Talk about hearing footsteps. For opponents seeing Tiger lurking behind them is like a quarterback seeing a blitzing linebacker bearing down on him. They feel like a burglar robbing a house as the cops pull into the driveway.
Padraig Harrington had no chance. He was the poor guy that was up three strokes. Woods didn’t waste any time getting even. Within the first four holes he wiped out Harrington’s lead. They went back and forth over the next several holes but you only knew it was a matter of time.
Only a matter of time before Harrington wilts under Tiger’s heat. Only a matter of time before Tiger pounces on a mistake. It wasn’t a matter of if but when.
It’s always that way with Tiger Woods. Woods appeared on the Mike Douglas Show with a club in his hands at three years old. He was at his best under the spotlight then and he still is today. Some have argued that he is the best pressure player that ever lived- in any sport.
In golf, there is nobody else to rely on. It’s all on you. There’s nobody to place the blame on if you fail. Standing on the tee box ready to hit the drive in front of hundreds of spectators in the gallery and hundreds of thousands watching on TV might be the most pressure in any sport.
But Tiger excels under pressure. He plays best when the stakes are the highest. So it happened like we all knew it would. On the 16th hole Woods, down now by one stroke, stood 178 yards away from the green and in trouble in the trees.
He talked to his caddie and then decided what club to hit. 178 yards? Six iron maybe? Maybe a seven? No not Tiger. Instead he pulls out an eight iron like a gun slinger pulls out his pistol. An eight iron? From 178 yards? That’s a five or a six for human golfers.
He swings and fires away. The balls lofts high into the air and sails across the sky before settling softly on to the green…a foot from the hole. Woods could have literally kicked it in but instead tapped in for a birdie and Harrington was cooked.
Harrington, after seeing Woods stuff the eight iron, hit five straight poor shots and wound up with a triple bogey.
As Woods gets better down the stretch opponents melt under the heat. Woods closed out the day with a six foot birdie putt and a 65 for the day to win by four strokes. It was his fifth win in 2009 and second consecutive tournament victory.
It was the sixth time in his career that Woods won a tournament when trailing by three shots or more. It was the seventh time Woods won at Firestone in Akron, Ohio making him the first player in Tour history to win seven times on the same course.
Is Tiger Woods the best golfer ever? Well the numbers are starting to bore that out. He now has 70 victories on the PGA tour which leaves him three behind Nicklaus and 12 behind Sam Snead, who is the all time leader with 82.
Woods, only 33, could pass Nicklaus as early as next year and reach Snead by the year 2012. He’s won more tournaments at his age than anybody in history. Nicklaus won his 70th at the age of 40. Snead was 42.
Tiger is lurking red shirt and all. He’s still trailing both Nicklaus and Snead in total tournament victories. In other words he has them right where he wants them.
Tim can be reached at tspeterson32@yahoo.com
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