It’s high time we stop talking about sidelights like a weaponized North Korea or the economic fascism of Barack Obama, and instead talk about something REALLY important: The Masters.
There should be plenty to say about it as the week goes on, including how nice it would be to see something unexpected, like a sentimental favorite (Greg Norman? Fred Couples?) take home the Green Jacket.
But I fear we’ve all read the script already, and know exactly what’s going to happen. If Tiger Woods does NOT win this week, I’ll have to scrape my jaw off the floor and reattach it to my face.
It sounds churlish to say that I “fear” that’s what will happen. Tiger’s performance at the US Open last year was one of such surpassing heart and determination that he deserves to be rooted for. But his wins are just too expected. Just once, just one friggin time, it would be nice to see somebody pull a Trevino or Watson on him and chip in, or make any sort of birdie, on the 17th or 18th holes to beat him. It’s never happened. The only people who have ever stepped up to the plate and refused to back off have been the good second-tier players like Bob May, Chris DiMarco, and Rocco Mediate. And even they didn’t make birdies coming home or otherwise pull off miracle shots. The fact is, nobody has ever, when it counted, come from behind Tiger or even been even with him and gone under par on the last holes to beat him. Again and again, Tiger’s truly admirable heroics have been made possible in the first place because others have choked their guts out down the stretch to blow leads against him. I’ll start rooting for Tiger AFTER, Nicklaus-like, he loses to a future Hall of Famer who actually catches and passes him with birdies or chip-ins — and then picks himself off the floor, several times, and finds new ways to win.
It may not be fair to Goliath, but it really is no fun to root for Goliath. Tiger deserves all the credit in the world for his surpassing excellence, his courage, and his growing sense of sportsmanship. But we need a new script to keep things interesting.
