What the heck has happened to Tiger Woods?

I think it's the nature of the way these tournaments work. That and the fact that golf uses a MONEY LIST ranking as a cutoff for precious tour cards.

In most sports you face an opponent directly. In many it's within your power to make him play worse . . . to BEAT him. And when you walk off the field, you typically know whether you won or lost.

Webb Simpson played a nice final round of golf a couple of weeks ago. Walked off the course and watched TV to see if he would finish first, second, third or whatever.

That's just "different." Wanting to win is nice --- who doesn't want to win? --- but seeing you won on TV it's not exactly Rafael Nadal exacting revenge on Novak Djokovic, last man standing. It can't be. Not in golf. Or many Olympic sports, for that matter. You post a score or a time and, well, you just wait to see what happens.

 

And I know you wanted me to say something like that, because it's the truth and we're all about the truth.

But BTE talks gooder than I do.

 

For some reason I found the Greenbrier playoff oddly compelling.

 

Me, too. Maybe because I've been there and played that course, but more likely because the two guys were such unknowns.

 

Remember though, these guys don't care about winning and are just happy to get paid according to shotty.

 

They're actually good players who have been known to the kind of hardcore golf fan who reads Golf Digest or Golf World. Kelly won two Washington State Amateurs before he was 15 years old, played four years at U. of Washington and was 11th on Nationwide Tour money list last year. Potter is the best story. Father was in golf course maintenance and Mom worked at Wal-Mart in Ocala. Self-made swing and left-handed, both like Bubba Watson (not nearly as flaky as Bubba). Turned pro after high school. Great iron player, sneaky long, birdie machine when he gets going.

 

That is utterly mind-boggling. And Exhibit 35 why Jack is the GOAT as I type this.

 

Having become a huge fan of "The Grand Slam" by Mark Frost, I'm inclined to say that Bobby Jones, with 13 majors in only 21 attempts in eight years, was the GOAT.

He won at least one major in eight consecutive years. That streak is twice as long as that of any other golfer in history.

 

Good on John Daly: Shoots a Sunday 65 to finish T12.

 

And golf was merely a hobby to him. Imagine if he had taken it as seriously as pros do now?

 

Ummm... do not concur.

With the exception of Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen, for most of his prime, Jones was going against the Al Watrus' of the world. Compare that to who Nicklaus had to contend with: Palmer, Player, Casper, Watson, Trevino, Floyd, Miller, Stockton then Norman, Faldo and Price on the tail end.

This isn't apples and oranges. It's apples and hand grenades.