Michaux: Woods' victory restores order
Web posted
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Tiger Woods winning a golf tournament is never a bad thing.
It's good for television, as his mere presence on a major leaderboard drives up ratings.
It's good for the PGA Tour, which needs more leverage heading into the next four-year TV contract negotiations.
It's good for golf, because having him back in the major hunt sparks interest unlike any other player.
People might support an underdog such as Chris DiMarco while it's happening and feel a little sorry for him when it's over, but when everyone looks back they prefer to see giants listed again and again on the trophies.
Woods snapping a 10-major winless drought by collecting his fourth green jacket and ninth overall major was a big shot in the arm for himself and the game.
Golf needed him to win the Masters Tournament if only to turn the Tiger topic of conversation away from the technically tedious swing changes to more intriguing thoughts.
The questions this week are so much better already.
Can he win a single-season slam?
Can he collect six, seven or 10 green jackets?
Can he catch Jack Nicklaus' major records on the back nine?
With a fourth Masters win before the age of 30 secured, Woods was reminded Sunday of the statement Nicklaus made when the young amateur arrived for his Augusta National Golf Club debut in 1995.
Jack said Tiger would win more Masters than he (six) and Arnold Palmer (four) combined.
Was that a motivator?
"No," Woods said, "just wondering what he was smoking."
Nicklaus announced his retirement from Masters competition the day before Woods won, and he's still inhaling his belief that Woods is every bit the dominant player as he was in his prime.
That Woods held off a gritty DiMarco without what he would have once referred to as his "A-game" only reinforces Nicklaus' opinion.
"He's still obviously the dominant player," Nicklaus said. "I didn't have to play my best to win and Tiger doesn't have to play his best to win. But when he plays his best, he's going to probably win."
Nicklaus handled the waves of success over 25 years, dealing with the ebb and flow of lapses in majors dominance over winless stretches of 12, 10 and 10.
"Ten majors is not that long," Woods said of his drought. "Some guys go without for life."
Nicklaus believes Woods might be on the front of another wave, even with the improvement of his nearest competitors since he was collecting major titles in bunches from 1999-2002 (winning 7 of 11).
With Woods winning the season's first major, talk naturally swings toward the possibility of a Grand Slam. After all, he is the only player in modern history to win all four majors in a row, albeit not in a single calendar year.
Even before Woods went through his second extended overhaul of his swing, this looked like it might be the year. The courses alone make Woods an automatic favorite - and the fact that this is the 75th anniversary year of Bobby Jones' slam in 1930 dangles another historical carrot.
The U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst No. 2, where Woods finished third in 1999 and stood on the 71st green with a short putt t ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . / 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z [ \ ] ^ _ ` a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z { | } ~