In keeping with the attention that he deserves, I'm going to be keeping a running-series devoted exclusively to the worlds greatest golfer, perhaps the greatest the game has ever witnessed, Tiger Woods.
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On Sunday, Tiger Woods added a footnote to his history books and a second chapter to Y.E. Yang's future autobiography
Tiger's 6 & 5 thumping should not come as a surprise and that is no way meant to be critical of Yang. It's a matter of fact; Y.E. Yang, who is 37, has two career PGA Tour victories (The Honda Classic and the PGA Championship, both this year) and Tiger Woods, who is 33, has 71 Pga Tour victories (14 of which are majors). Tiger is considered one of the most decorated junior golfers, amateur golfers, college golfers, and professional golfers in history; Y.E. Yang is just another one-time major champion who rose from obscurity to temporary fame.
The story here is not that Tiger beat Yang, but rather that Tiger, as he so often has, made the first, and only, putt that mattered, the one to win. As it has been widely reported and discussed, Tiger's missed putt on the 16th green was the first putt of note that he's ever missed. Think about that. . .
Tiger had led 14-times going into Sunday at a major and had won every time. On Sunday, with the lead, Tiger averaged 69.5. . .his playing partners averaged 73.14 (PGA Tour). Every golf fan can think of a putt Tiger made when he had to (2008 US Open, 1997 Masters, 2005 Masters, etc.), but golf fans can't think of when that he had missed because he had not.
Don't for a moment think that this has some larger connotation, Tiger will again make the putts he needs to and, most likely, he will miss another one (don't tell him that though).
While I typically find ease in analyzing other golfers, even the best, and, if necessary, being critical of them, with Tiger, he's, simply, rewritten the game. When I watch Tiger, I believe that he simply thinks differently than those before him, that he knows not just one thing, but so many things that those before him didn't, that he, somehow, has captured the power of his temperament, of his drive.
One of the greatest golfing honors and privileges of my life is that I have always known of Tiger, that I have witnessed him first hand go from a 3-time USGA Junior champion to the winner of 71 PGA Tour events and the eventual greatest champion in history.
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