2008 Woodie Awards
Tiger in a class of his own
Pat Neumuth
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Sports
It must be hard for all the players on the PGA Tour to have to play for second place.
In the mist of the "lynching" comment and the Golfweek magazine noose cover, Woods still performed flawlessly. Woods has reached the plateau of greatness and dominance in sports that's comparable to that of Michael Jordan.
Like MJ, Tiger is under constant pressure to be a racial activist.
I think people like Jim Brown need to leave him alone. Society should not pressure someone on how to act. If Tiger wants to lead people in the fight against racism let him choose to do so.
Then there are the people who wanted Woods to be angry about Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman's "lynching" comment.
I thought Woods handled himself perfectly. Tilghman is a friend of his and she did not say it maliciously.
I am not excusing the comment by any means. She should know that it was inexcusable and her suspension was fitting for the crime.
The noose on the cover of Golfweek magazine was far more offensive and I am glad editor Dave Seanor was canned for approving such an appalling imagery. What was he thinking?
But let's get back to what Woods is doing on the course. Woods won this weekend at his first tournament of the year at the Buick Invitational at Torry Pines, his fourth tournament victory in a row.
Woods shot a third round 66 to increase the lead to an unreachable eight shot cushion coming into Sunday.
Woods' margin of victory is unheard of. The Buick Open is just one of several instances in which Tiger essentially had the tournament won heading into the final day. He had every shot in the bag all weekend.
I saw him chip five feet from the cup from where the gallery was standing behind the green. The grass where he had to hit the ball had standing water and the grass was trampled by the gallery, creating an uneven lie. The CBS broadcasters said a good shot should be 10 feet away.
Woods will break every PGA Tour record imaginable before all is said and done. The guy is only 32.
He will win another grand slam in his career as well. We just do not know when it will happen. He is so driven that his Tiger slam back in 2001 is not enough.
Golf reporter David Feherty asked him if he could win all 12 tournaments this year and with no hesitation he said "yes."
This win gives Woods the edge for the U.S. Open, which will also be at Torrey Pines. If you are a betting person, I would start betting on Tiger against the entire field.
You would probably make some money. That is if Vegas wants to take that risk.
In the mist of the "lynching" comment and the Golfweek magazine noose cover, Woods still performed flawlessly. Woods has reached the plateau of greatness and dominance in sports that's comparable to that of Michael Jordan.
Like MJ, Tiger is under constant pressure to be a racial activist.
I think people like Jim Brown need to leave him alone. Society should not pressure someone on how to act. If Tiger wants to lead people in the fight against racism let him choose to do so.
Then there are the people who wanted Woods to be angry about Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman's "lynching" comment.
I thought Woods handled himself perfectly. Tilghman is a friend of his and she did not say it maliciously.
I am not excusing the comment by any means. She should know that it was inexcusable and her suspension was fitting for the crime.
The noose on the cover of Golfweek magazine was far more offensive and I am glad editor Dave Seanor was canned for approving such an appalling imagery. What was he thinking?
But let's get back to what Woods is doing on the course. Woods won this weekend at his first tournament of the year at the Buick Invitational at Torry Pines, his fourth tournament victory in a row.
Woods shot a third round 66 to increase the lead to an unreachable eight shot cushion coming into Sunday.
Woods' margin of victory is unheard of. The Buick Open is just one of several instances in which Tiger essentially had the tournament won heading into the final day. He had every shot in the bag all weekend.
I saw him chip five feet from the cup from where the gallery was standing behind the green. The grass where he had to hit the ball had standing water and the grass was trampled by the gallery, creating an uneven lie. The CBS broadcasters said a good shot should be 10 feet away.
Woods will break every PGA Tour record imaginable before all is said and done. The guy is only 32.
He will win another grand slam in his career as well. We just do not know when it will happen. He is so driven that his Tiger slam back in 2001 is not enough.
Golf reporter David Feherty asked him if he could win all 12 tournaments this year and with no hesitation he said "yes."
This win gives Woods the edge for the U.S. Open, which will also be at Torrey Pines. If you are a betting person, I would start betting on Tiger against the entire field.
You would probably make some money. That is if Vegas wants to take that risk.