A blog wouldn't be complete without mention of Eldrick "Tiger" Woods. Even if you don't like or appreciate golf or even if you don't consider golf to be a sport, you would have to acknowledge and agree that in the history of sports as we know them, no one has been more dominate, more charismatic, and more clutch than Tiger Woods.
What he did a few days ago on Wednesday typifies what has become a Webster's dictionary accepted adjective: Tigeresque.
This week is one of the more exciting weeks in the PGA Tour where the top 64 players in the world face off in a classic match play format. They are seeded 1-64 and play one on one but instead of stroke play, they play by holes....the way golf was meant to be played. For instance if I am playing against you and you score a 4 on the first hole and I score a 7, you would only be ONE UP instead of 3 up. You could conceivably win the match after 10 holes and we wouldn't play the remaining 7 because the match is over.
Anyway, this is the only week all year that we get to watch the players play one and one against each other in match play. If you lose, you go home. If you win, you advance to the next round. Well, Tiger's first round opponent this week was JB Holmes who is ranked #64 in the world. However, unlike most sports, there isn't that great of a separation between #1 and #64. For instance, #64 (JB Holmes) just won a tournament 2 weeks ago against the top 125 players in the world. This guy is very good and Tiger had his hands full early.
To make a long story, short: Tiger was down 3 holes with only 5 to play. Now that is not 3 strokes, that is 3 holes. Meaning he would have to outright WIN 3 out of those 5 holes just to tie JB Holmes. Almost inconceivable......but not for Tiger Woods.
As I watched the drama unfold on Wednesday, I can honestly say this was one of, if not the #1 greatest clutch performances of all time. It was superhuman and even a movie producer/director would've thrown it out claiming it to be "too unbelievable."
On hole #14, Tiger faced a 15 foot putt that he needed to make to win the hole. He calmly drained it right in the middle. He now was 2 holes down with 4 to play. (sidebar: Anybody that has played golf knows that when you HAVE to make a putt to not lose a match, it is one of the more difficult things to do and any putt over 5 feet is 50/50 at best even on the PGA Tour).
Anyway, on to hole #15. Tiger faced an 18 foot putt for birdie to win the hole. Once again, he drained it! Two putts that he absolutely needed to make, he made. Two putts that (at that distance) are made about 20% of the time on the Tour even when there is not the pressure that Tiger faced at that moment.
Well, Tiger is now one hole down with 3 to play. On hole #16, Tiger hit his approach to 20 feet. No way he makes this right? Wrong. Tiger drains his third birdie in three holes to square the match with 2 holes to play.
Is the drama over? NO. Hole 17 is a 600 yard par 5 which both golfers reached in two. Both golfers faced about 40 foot eagle putts. JB Holmes was first and trickled his putt down to about 5 feet. It appeared that both golfers would birdie and go on to 18 to see who would win; however, the audience forgot that Tiger Woods isn't human. Instead of lagging his putt up to the hole to tie with a birdie, Woods instead drains the 40 foot eagle putt to take a ONE UP lead and basically winning the match and leading to a similar photo of what has been posted here. They would both par hole #18 and Tiger's legacy was strengthened with another miraculous finish.
I said earlier that this was "one of the most clutch performances of all time." I take that back. This (for me) ranks as #1. You can get a hot hand and score 63 points against a better team to help your team win. You can hit 3 homeruns in a World Series game in baseball to give your team a chance. You can even lead an offensive unit in football in less than 2 minutes down the field for the winning touchdown.
I've seen those three things done and I was open-mouthed and sat in awe but never have I seen a more jaw-dropping, silence-shocking, tear-inspiring performance that I witnessed on Wednesday afternoon.
This act (among many others that Tiger has performed throughout the years) has led me to this post. Like I said, even if you don't like golf, take a moment to watch Tiger play so that you can tell your grandchildren you watched the greatest clutch and most dominate performer in any sport and in any Era!
2 comments:
Dro, what you're saying about parity in golf is so true. Only one player in the top eight in the world has made it to the final eight this week, and of course it's Tiger. Thanks for playing, Aaron Baddeley. Your adopted hometown fans couldn't quite pull it out for you.
I will say Tiger is da man but I will disagree with the comment about it being the most clutch moment. If Tiger loses, he goes home and hangs out with his hot wife. If a baseball player doesn't go yard or get a hit or make a defensive play or not throw a hanging curve ball when your team is 1 out away from a world series, his whole team and a crowd of 40,000 go home with their heads hanging and he is remembered as a choke job for the rest of his life and they end up killing themselves or buying a 400 acre ranch in Montana so nobody can talk to them ever again. I measure clutch by the amount of pressure is on a person at that huge moment in a game and his or her ability to come through for not only himself, but his teammates, city or country in some cases. Tiger is a great performer and dominant in his sport no doubt but he was matched up against J.B. Who? It should have been over by hole 12. Now, if he were in a head to head match vs. Phil I would rank it much higher but it still doesn't crack my top 3. Maybe that could be your next blog entry. Our top 3 clutch moments in sports history??
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