After the torrent of negative comments I received on my first article entitled An Honest Look at Tiger Woods' Victory from a Hesitant Fan: A Fan's Take, I have decided to take it upon myself to further my arguments with more explanation. Let it be stated that I am one of Tiger's most devout fans. A small example of my previous articles lauding the golfer can be found here: Does Tiger Woods Need a Victory at Bay Hill for Vindication?: A Fan's Take, Tiger Woods to Play in Doral: A Fan's Take and Tiger Woods the Leader in the Clubhouse at the Honda Classic Open: A Fan's Take. All have been written during the 2012 season and I have done nothing but give the golfer praise. I enjoy watching Tiger Woods play golf more than anyone in the world and think that when he is on fire, he is unstoppable.
This being said, how impressive really was his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational? At the beginning of the final round, Tiger had only a one shot lead over his closest competitor in Graeme McDowell. Woods was at -11 and Graeme was at -10. Tiger Woods ended the day at -13 and Graeme McDowell ended at -8. Ian Poulter rounded out the top three at -6. Poulter has not been on his game at all during the 2012 season. He has battled with pneumonia and lost a considerable amount of weight. He had a good showing on Friday and Saturday with respective scores of 69 and 68, but other than that, he was lucky to finish where he did.
Course conditions and pin positions were obviously a factor on the final round. To further compound the difficulties, the dry greens made for challenging approaches with many of the golf balls rolling further than their intended targets. Tiger was able to, and I'll say it again, mitigate mistakes. Even when his ball landed off the green, he was able to salvage pars. His competitors were not.
How much difference is there between his victory at Bay Hill and his win at the Chevron Classic in 2011? Who did Tiger outplay that was at the top of their game? Before jumping to the conclusion that Tiger Woods is fully back, he will need to prove it by competing against the top ranked players in Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer. Yes, I'll acknowledge that between the four players, they only have two major victories. However, they, as a group, are not as likely to fall as the competition at Bay Hill did. It is amazing the tendencies you begin to notice when you watch as much golf as I do. When Kaymer, Donald, Westwood and McIlroy are all present, the competition is undeniably elevated.
I would love nothing more than to see Tiger Woods break Nicklaus' record. He is amazingly talented and capable of incredible feats; but there is a long road ahead yet. I have never been as excited for a major championship as I am for this year's Masters. How will Tiger Woods perform on April 5th?
I am an avid fan of the sport of golf. I enjoy being up to date with all the new faces and watching the close matches on a weekly basis.
Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.
No comments:
Post a Comment