Sports Views

Tiger Woods victory in The Open yesterday was probably the most controlled piece of golf ever. He lead from the first morning and, although players got near him, they never really looked to threaten his eventual win.

I woke up to good news this morning. Tiger Woods is in the lead after the first round of the British Open. He shot a 6 under 66. Now I have to figure out how to convince the Mrs. that I need to go strait to bed so I can get up at 3:00 in the morning to watch some live coverage from St. Andrews. Yeah right! It should be a great weekend for Golf.

I play a decent game, but I’m no Tiger Woods. I’ve twice shattered my driver on the tee, and believe me when I tell you there’s prolly no stranger feeling than suddenly finding yourself holding a feather light graphite shaft minus the driver head, while watching that part of the club follow your ball down the fairway. But both times, King Cobra replaced the driver no questions asked. Can’t complain about that. I do love this game.

In 2000, the average male handicap was 15.7 and in 2004 it was 15.2. Among women, it improved from 15.7 to 15.2 over the same period. The statistics are not being trumpeted by the big sporting manufacturers, who spend millions of pounds convincing golfers that their dream of hitting balls like Tiger Woods still lies in buying the newest equipment.

What would it be like to live in the shadow of Lance Armstrong (or Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods for you other minded athletes)? I would say it would be pretty difficult to surpass their greatness. When you are always measuring yourself by the best, it is pretty hard to measure up. But isn't that the problem? We limit ourselves by today's best. Tomorrow, well maybe longer, someone will come along and say Lance who?

USA Today had a interesting article in their paper yesterday. They listed all of the disastrous consequences of removing the wage cap on payroll taxes, thus putting an enormous burden on the rich and famous. It was estimated that Tiger Woods would pay $10 million in Social Security taxes a year! Gee, do you think Tiger would have a greater incentive than he does now to avoid that tax if the wage cap was removed?

As Eric McErlain at Off Wing Opinion suggests, it would be nice to see the identities for some of the blue dots, specifically Phil Mickelson or Vijay Singh or Ernie Els. I'm also curious about the blue dot on the far left side of the graphic. Over the last five years, his accuracy has remained very high, while his length off the tee has hardly changed -- nearly every PGA Tour player is longer than he was five years ago. Fred Funk was my first guess, but after taking a look at his stats, even he appears to be too long off the tee...

World number two Vijay Singh closed the gap on top-ranked Tiger Woods after winning the Wachovia Championship in a playoff at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina on Sunday.

The Wachovia Championship is the place to be for golf fans who love to have the PGA Tour's biggest stars gathered in one place. Starting with today's first round at Quail Hollow Country Club, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Sergio Garcia and the rest are expected to put on quite a show.

Recently getting into golf myself, I have been watching golf on TV lately, most recently, the Masters. The most memorable moment is when Tiger Woods sunk the 16th hole. Many of you may have seen it, some may not, but here is the video of him sinking one of the shots that helped him win his 4th Masters.

Tiger Woods' birdie chip on the 16th green in the final round at Augusta will be one of the most played highlights in the history of golf. If you missed it, Woods' chip made a 90-degree turn down a ridge and headed for the hole. The ball reached the hole, teetered on the edge for a good two seconds, then dropped into the cup.

For Nike, the moment was a gift. Whatever ad campaign they were working on is scrapped. Tiger Woods. The Masters. Incredible chip. Nike ball.

I was pleasantly surprised that Chris DiMarco hung tough in the final round at the Masters. He went 4 under and tied Tiger Woods in regulation, only to lose in the first hole in the sudden death playoff. I thought DiMarco lost his rhythm in the final nine holes of the 3rd round and probably wouldn't regain his form, but he must've figured something out in the time between rounds, as he was absolutely fantastic for the final 18. DiMarco will win a major, it's just a matter of when and where. He's a straight enough ball striker that it could be...

Tiger Woods is clearly one of those athletes who can literally move themselves 'into the zone' with their concentration and effort alone. For those of you who do not participate or follow sports, 'the zone' is that rarified air that, when reached by an athlete at any level, but particularly by elite athletes, great things happen, and seem to do so effortlessly.