The Beginning of the End?

Tiger Woods will be 34 years old in December, missed the cut at a major this season and failed to win the PGA Championship last week, despite leading after 54 holes.  The loss at the PGA was the first loss for Woods in a major when he enters Sunday with a lead.  He wasn’t terrible on Sunday, Y.E. Yang was just very, very good.

I remember watching the 2008 U.S. Open where Tiger won with basically one leg.  He defeated Rocco Mediate in an 18 hole playoff where his mental toughness was on display.  He willed himself to a victory.  It was probably the most impressive athletic performance I have ever seen.  That tournament ended Woods’ 2008 season, as he went under the knife to fix a torn ligament in his knee and the stress fracture in his leg, and the surgery may have changed his career.

Many pundits, experts, and people in the know have suggested that the surgery would change Woods and perhaps put an end to his dominance.  I didn’t believe it at first, but after watching Tiger collect zero major trophies this year for the first time since 2004, I am beginning to wonder if the best is behind Tiger.

Tiger currently ranks second all-time in major championship victories with 14.  Woods trails Jack Nicklaus by four.  All of Tiger’s majors have come in an 11-year stretch.  Nicklaus, on the other hand, won his in 24 years, so there’s still hope for Tiger to break Nicklaus’ record.

Phil Phalters at U.S. Open

We were all rooting for him.  Tied for the lead through 14 holes, golf fans were hanging on every moment of Phil Mickelson’s final four holes at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.  We all wanted the heart-warming story of a guy who’s wife is about to undergo intense treatment for cancer winning the Open so she could have “the silver trophy in her hospital room.”

Phil lingered around the leaderboard for the first 3 rounds of the Open and made his charge in the fourth round.  We all wanted to see a superhero play those last four holes, but what we got was vintage Phil Mickelson as Mickelson finished second for the fifth time in the U.S. Open.  He bogeyed 15 and 17, adding to his legacy of missing critical puts at the end of a tournament.

It was a good run, though, and fun to watch.  As more of a Tiger Woods fan, I rooted for Phil in this one so his wife could have the trophy.  Now it’s time for the Mickelsons to undergo treatment for cancer (I like how in his interviews, Phil always said “we” have to undergo treatment, not “she”) and I think I speak for golf fans everywhere when I say good luck.

Rooting for Phil

I’m a big Tiger Woods fan.  I love watching him play golf and I think one of the most impressive individual performance I have ever seen in sports was last year when Tiger won the U.S. Open on one leg.

This year, though, I’m going to be rooting for Phil Mickelson in the U.S. Open.  I’ve never had anything against Phil, I’m just more of a Tiger fan.  Phil’s wife, Amy, is battling cancer and he had taken a leave of absence from the game a couple of weeks ago.  I guess she is doing pretty well and Phil came back last week and will play at Bethpage Black this weekend for the U.S. Open.

I’m a big fan of nice stories and I really hope Phil is able to focus on golf when he’s on the course this week.  If he is able to focus, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him make a run and I’ll be rooting for him.