betED.com - The View from the Couch - by Gavin McDougald!
March 12th, 2008 - Impossible to Ignore
Every year, right about now, the sports world?s focus is usually divided on hockey?s and basketball?s marches to the post-season, baseball spring training getting into full swing and of course, March Madness.
In 2008 however, things are a little different. There is an ongoing story in sports that, if it continues, will overshadow all the usual suspects ? and I?m not talking about the possibility of Roger Clemens being exposed as the Keyser S?ze of steroids.
It?s about a sport that usually doesn?t matter for another month ? and that, is golf. Or rather Tiger Woods, whose dominance of golf is so absolute there is serious talk about a perfect season.
Forget about the heretofore thought to be untouchable record set by Byron Nelson when he won 11 straight PGA tour events. We?re talking about Tiger going oh-fer in losses for all of 2008.
Now, let?s pause a sec to get our heads around that.
The thought of an undefeated season in most sports is simply ludicrous. It happens in college sports now and then. In pro football, as we experienced this past season, far less so, but in major league sports like baseball, hockey, basketball, racing - well, never?
?and probably the least likely candidate for perfection would have to be golf.
In most other sports, the competition is limited to one opponent at a time. In golf, that ain?t the way it is. Every time Tiger tees it up, it?s him against every other great golfer in the world. Which means, if any one of those great golfers has a particularly great week, Tiger?s will have to be greater. Then there are the intangibles like lucky or unlucky bounces or changes in weather. Playing at Carnoustie in 1999, Woods had the misfortune of playing an afternoon draw when suddenly a monsoon blew in off the Scottish coast. He shot 82 and eventually managed to finish 7th. For Tiger to win any tournament he has to be both lucky and good.
Could that stretch out for an entire season?
It?s not impossible. In 1953 Ben Hogan came close. He won every major championship he played in, along with every official tournament he entered except for the one he tied for second. That said, due to injury he only managed to play six times that year in total.
Nelson?s 11 straight came in 1945 when most of his major opponents were involved in WWII. Still considered by many to be the greatest season on tour ever, Nelson won 18 times out of 30 events for a staggering 60% winning percentage.
Staggering until now. Tiger needs to win only three of his next six events to go 18 for 30.
He has his sights set slightly higher than that. In the world?s most imperfect sport, he?s actually admitted that he is striving for perfection. ?That?s my intent. That?s why you play. If you don?t believe you can?t win an event, don?t show up.?
He?s been showing up.
He closed out 2007 by setting the 72-hole scoring record at Cog Hill and winning the Tour championship by eight strokes.
In 2008, he picked up where he left off by winning the Buick Invitational, again by 8, and then crushed Stewart Cink, 8 and 7 at the Accenture match-play championship ? the largest margin of victory in the final of that event in a decade.
Right now he?s got four in a row and he says he?s never been playing better.
The road to eleven will be tough, but the route appears, (typically for this guy), to be tailor made for Woods.
This weekend he plays at Arnold?s tournament, Bay Hill, a place where he has won four times previously. Following that is the World Golf Championship at Doral, where he has won six times. Then he will try to win his fifth Masters one month from this weekend, and following that, his second straight at Wachovia.
His total could be at eight straight when he faces his biggest test, The Players Championship, where he has only won once before. If he makes it past there it?s on to Jack?s tournament, the Memorial, where he's a three-time winner.
That would set up his record tying victory chance at the U.S. Open, which is being played at Torrey Pines, where he has won five Buick Invitational?s.
As for the rest of the season, he will play at least nine more times ? including in the two remaining majors. The British Open is at Royal Birkdale, where he hasn?t won but did fall just one shot short of making it into the play-off against eventual winner Mark O?Meara. The PGA is at Oakland Hills where he has faired less well, particularly in the Ryder Cup that was held there in 2004. Every other tournament he will play in he has either won or finished second.
The way he is playing now, and the way things are shaping up for him, it?s impossible to ignore the possibility of Tiger Woods not losing in 2008.
It?s not like he hasn?t done it before.
"I've had one perfect season, but it's been a while," he revealed recently. "When I was 11, I won 36 tournaments, didn't lose one. I guess I peaked at 11."
Maybe not.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Bet PGA Golf odds at betED.com here!
March 12th, 2008 - Impossible to Ignore
Every year, right about now, the sports world?s focus is usually divided on hockey?s and basketball?s marches to the post-season, baseball spring training getting into full swing and of course, March Madness.
In 2008 however, things are a little different. There is an ongoing story in sports that, if it continues, will overshadow all the usual suspects ? and I?m not talking about the possibility of Roger Clemens being exposed as the Keyser S?ze of steroids.
It?s about a sport that usually doesn?t matter for another month ? and that, is golf. Or rather Tiger Woods, whose dominance of golf is so absolute there is serious talk about a perfect season.
Forget about the heretofore thought to be untouchable record set by Byron Nelson when he won 11 straight PGA tour events. We?re talking about Tiger going oh-fer in losses for all of 2008.
Now, let?s pause a sec to get our heads around that.
The thought of an undefeated season in most sports is simply ludicrous. It happens in college sports now and then. In pro football, as we experienced this past season, far less so, but in major league sports like baseball, hockey, basketball, racing - well, never?
?and probably the least likely candidate for perfection would have to be golf.
In most other sports, the competition is limited to one opponent at a time. In golf, that ain?t the way it is. Every time Tiger tees it up, it?s him against every other great golfer in the world. Which means, if any one of those great golfers has a particularly great week, Tiger?s will have to be greater. Then there are the intangibles like lucky or unlucky bounces or changes in weather. Playing at Carnoustie in 1999, Woods had the misfortune of playing an afternoon draw when suddenly a monsoon blew in off the Scottish coast. He shot 82 and eventually managed to finish 7th. For Tiger to win any tournament he has to be both lucky and good.
Could that stretch out for an entire season?
It?s not impossible. In 1953 Ben Hogan came close. He won every major championship he played in, along with every official tournament he entered except for the one he tied for second. That said, due to injury he only managed to play six times that year in total.
Nelson?s 11 straight came in 1945 when most of his major opponents were involved in WWII. Still considered by many to be the greatest season on tour ever, Nelson won 18 times out of 30 events for a staggering 60% winning percentage.
Staggering until now. Tiger needs to win only three of his next six events to go 18 for 30.
He has his sights set slightly higher than that. In the world?s most imperfect sport, he?s actually admitted that he is striving for perfection. ?That?s my intent. That?s why you play. If you don?t believe you can?t win an event, don?t show up.?
He?s been showing up.
He closed out 2007 by setting the 72-hole scoring record at Cog Hill and winning the Tour championship by eight strokes.
In 2008, he picked up where he left off by winning the Buick Invitational, again by 8, and then crushed Stewart Cink, 8 and 7 at the Accenture match-play championship ? the largest margin of victory in the final of that event in a decade.
Right now he?s got four in a row and he says he?s never been playing better.
The road to eleven will be tough, but the route appears, (typically for this guy), to be tailor made for Woods.
This weekend he plays at Arnold?s tournament, Bay Hill, a place where he has won four times previously. Following that is the World Golf Championship at Doral, where he has won six times. Then he will try to win his fifth Masters one month from this weekend, and following that, his second straight at Wachovia.
His total could be at eight straight when he faces his biggest test, The Players Championship, where he has only won once before. If he makes it past there it?s on to Jack?s tournament, the Memorial, where he's a three-time winner.
That would set up his record tying victory chance at the U.S. Open, which is being played at Torrey Pines, where he has won five Buick Invitational?s.
As for the rest of the season, he will play at least nine more times ? including in the two remaining majors. The British Open is at Royal Birkdale, where he hasn?t won but did fall just one shot short of making it into the play-off against eventual winner Mark O?Meara. The PGA is at Oakland Hills where he has faired less well, particularly in the Ryder Cup that was held there in 2004. Every other tournament he will play in he has either won or finished second.
The way he is playing now, and the way things are shaping up for him, it?s impossible to ignore the possibility of Tiger Woods not losing in 2008.
It?s not like he hasn?t done it before.
"I've had one perfect season, but it's been a while," he revealed recently. "When I was 11, I won 36 tournaments, didn't lose one. I guess I peaked at 11."
Maybe not.
Cheers - Gavin McDougald - AKA Couch
Bet PGA Golf odds at betED.com here!
