July 21, 2013

  • How Low Has Tiger Fallen?
    How High Has Phil Risen?

    There will be arguments far into the future as to who was the greatest golfer of all time.   Not to disparage Arnold Palmer or Bobby Jones, but the field has long seemed to be narrowed down to two:

    Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods

    Jack has the 18 major titles, and Tiger is in second place at 14, a figure he's been stuck on for five years now, and with age and injuries an increasingly likely factor, it's debatable whether Tiger will ever catch Jack, despite the fact that if Tiger ever comes close to regaining his former dominance, he has a good shot.

    But that's a huge "if."  Fields are stronger now, and only getting stronger.  And Tiger's dismal Sunday performances in majors have become a disheartening pattern.

    Phil Mickelson's thrilling victory in the British Open Sunday brings to mind the Woods-Mickelson rivalry that we thought, about 15 years ago, was going to be The Thing in golf.  It never happened.  And now, it HAS happened.

    Phil's five majors don't come close to Tiger's 14, but the present version of Phil is more than equal to the present version of Tiger.  And except for a sputtering Rory McIlroy, there does not seem to be anyone on the horizon who seems likely to ever be The Rival for Tiger that is Phil Mickelson.

    The one thing we haven't seen on any kind of a regular basis is Tiger and Phil in the final twosome of a major tournament.  I'm not even sure if that's EVER happened.  'Twould be nice to see.

    Phil is now No. 2 in the world.  Behind Tiger.  Again.  In the past, Phil faltered every time he had a chance to sneak into the No. 1. ranking.

    Can it be?

    What will Phil do next?

Comments (5)

  • Was pretty neat to see a final round that good from Mickelson. Tiger finished what, tied for 6th? Hardly a dire failure, but the expectations for him are somehow Manchester United, the New England Patriots, the New York Yankees, and the Miami Heat all rolled into one. Clark Kent can't do what the media wants Tiger to do.I'd be really happy to stop hearing about McIlroy on Sportscenter. Guy is not just struggling, he's not RELEVANT. He's the Danica Patrick of the PGA... cute face, fun story, sells advertisements, and not a blip on leaderboards.Speaking of overblown expectations, I'm in Texas, and Cowboys camp opened today. There are already superbowl predictions. It's an 8-8 team, for crying out loud...

  • I don't know nothing much about golf...except I'm good at miniature golf. So, I can't answer your questions.But, I can leave you some hugs.HUGS!!! :sunny:

  • This kinda' looks like a happy twirling golf ball!!! :spinning:

  • @Endrath - Wel-l-l, I'm disagreeing about just how unreasonable are the expectations for Tiger, and about Rory's level of relevance.Taking Rory first:  It's not often that a player comes along and PROVES that he has the potential to join the pantheon of great golfers.  Not just one major victory by eight strokes, but two such.  That, on top of the fact that Rory has a golf swing as pure as that of Ernie Els or Tom Weiskopf, if you want to go back and further back in the annals of great swings.  I'll grant you, if Rory doesn't come to life soon and find some consistency, he'll wind up being at the Johnny Miller level in the history books (which is not all that bad, but still not quite Trevino or Watson).  Ah, even Trevino and Watson don't measure up to the Jones - Hogan - Palmer - Nicklaus - Woods level.  But when a youngster like Rory indicates he has the potential to go all the way, you kind of have to write about it once in a while, if you're a golf writer.  And I'll further grant you that "irrelevant" may soon fit Rory like a glove.  But not just yet.Jay Coffin's article sums up the Tiger issue well.  (Gad, I'm going to miss Xanga.  I just love how easy it is to drop a hyperlink into the discussion!)

  • I don't really follow golf and don't play myself. It's been very many years since I've played even miniature golf. I would hope that Tiger could come back as a contender in the sport. I think the competition is good. However, personally, I like Phil a lot, and I am happy to learn from news reports that he's doing well in the sport these days. Like adamswomanback, I wouldn't begin to speculate about who will emerge as greatest golfer of all time. I also live in TX, and I'm having a hard time putting much faith in Cowboys success yet. I have become a big Rangers fan, but they've been faltering a bit lately, especially in games against Orioles.  ~~Blessings 'n Cheers

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