If you didn't enjoy watching Tiger Woods win his fourth green jacket on Sunday, then you don't like golf, or sports, or human competition for that matter. In a tournament that saw Jack Nicklaus say goodbye and rain delays that tested the players' endurance and composure, Tiger and Chris DiMarco added a suspenseful finish to remember. It only seems fitting that as the Golden Bear exits this stage, Tiger staked a claim as his replacement.
It sure didn't look that way at the start. Tiger looked frustrated shooting a opening round 74. It was first round leader Chris DiMarco who looked in control. But rain was the focus for the first two rounds. Two inches fell in two days and the first round was delayed five-and-a-half hours while the second round ended before anyone had played more than nine holes. This was the fourth straight PGA tournament with weather problems and Hootie and company had to be nervous.
But Saturday brought sunshine and excitement back to Augusta. DiMarco matched his first round 67 to take the 36-hole lead for the second time in four years. In the afternoon, he backed that up with a 33 on the front nine to get to 13 under par. DiMarco hadn't made a bogey since the first hole of the tourney, but it was Tiger who put on a show.
Tiger rebounded from his opening round with a 66 and then went on a tear. Over the course of Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, Tiger made nine birdies in 13 holes including seven in a row (tying a Masters record). Despite two late bogeys, Tiger found himself with the lead after 54 holes, thanks to DiMarco's collapse. DiMarco lost his lead with a 41 on the back nine on Sunday morning, going from leader by four to trailing by three in a half-an-hour.
I know what you are thinking. Wasn't this supposed to be about the "Big Four?" The Big Four quickly turned into the last two. Ernie Els, fighting the flu, never really got started (although he made the cut on the number). Four rounds in the seventies, including a third round 78, left him in 47th place. For a few minutes on Saturday, it looked like we might have the big three on the leader board, but Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh never really got things going.
Half a dozen shots back on Sunday, they need to make a charge. Instead, Singh, the number one player in golf and past Masters champion, bogeyed three of his first five holes to drop out of contention, but managed to finish tied for fifth. Mickelson, last year's dramatic winner, couldn't seem to make a putt on the front nine and managed two double bogeys on the back to fall to tenth place.
Nope, it was Tiger versus DiMarco on Sunday and it was quite a show. Tiger birdies the first two holes while DiMarco's putting was tentative. Is Tiger back to his intimidating ways again? Not so fast, my friend! Tiger three putts for bogey on the fifth and gets into trouble on the 10th for another.
Meanwhile DiMarco is firing his irons at the flag. He makes a clutch par on 10 and sinks a 25-footer for birdie on 11 and suddenly it's a one-stroke lead. Back and forth it goes: DiMarco bogeys the 12th; Tiger birdies the 15th; DiMarco birdies 14 and 15. At 16, it looks like advantage DiMarco. Tiger hits it long, his ball coming to rest on the cusp of the second cut. DiMarco is a tad short, but with a makeable birdie putt.
Then Tiger is Tiger. He chips a shot that scoots toward the mound left of the flag and begins to roll downward toward the pin. The ball rolls and rolls and the crowd begins to realize it might go in. The ball heads toward the cup and seems to hang on the edge for a minute (in reality, it was seconds) and drops in for an improbable birdie. Tiger goes wild. The crowd goes wild. The announcers start talking about great Masters moments. DiMarco misses his putt and taps in for par; two-stroke lead with two holes to go.
Remarkably, Tiger bogeyed the final two holes with an errant tee shot on 17 and a bad approach on 18. DiMarco makes another clutch par on 17, but leaves his approach short on 18. Just to push your heart rate as high as it can go, he nearly holes his chip to win the tournament! But the ball lips out. Tiger misses his par putt and DiMarco makes his: sudden-death playoff.
The question hanging in the air late Sunday afternoon was: is Tiger back or is his brilliance still haunted by flaws that come out at the worst times? Tiger has never lost when holding a 54-hole lead of more than one stroke. Tiger has never lost a major when leading after three rounds.
Close on the heals of that question was can Chris DiMarco finally break through? He held the 54-hole lead in 2001 only to lose. He was in the final pairing with Phil Mickelson last year when Lefty out dueled Ernie Els for his first major; even giving Phil the line for his winning putt. In the last major of last year DiMarco lost in a playoff to Vijay Singh. Was this his time?
No. Tiger was Tiger. With three beautiful shots, Tiger birdie the 28th hole of his day to win a fourth green jacket and his ninth major. DiMarco again came up short; both on his approach on 18 (again!) and in his chance at a major. He must have been the loneliest man in the world when Tiger's putt disappeared. Chris, call Ernie, he knows where you are.
So is Tiger all the way back? Who knows? He didn't dominate like he has in the past, but he got the job done. He is marching ever onward to catch his idol. Only Jack Nicklaus has more wins at Augusta the Woods now. It is only fitting that Jack, Arnie Palmer, and Tiger sit together at the top. Nicklaus replaced Palmer as the greatest and Woods is taking over Nicklaus's mantle. Tiger is two wins away from matching the Golden Bear's six jackets and he is halfway to Jack's remarkable 18 major wins.
While Tiger re-worked his swing, his fellow competitors took advantage. Vijay captured the number one ranking and won $10 million dollars in a season. Phil found his game and one his first major (not to mention quite a few other tournaments) while flirting with three more. Ernie continued to win tournaments around the globe, \ but not majors. As the critics nagged and second-guessed, Tiger kept working.
When Tiger and Phil went head-to-head earlier this year Tiger triumphed and announced he was back. And yesterday, he made it clear that wasn't a fluke. Tiger isn't just battling the big four, he is battling history. Sure, the number one ranking is nice, but what he wants are majors. When is the U.S. Open, anyway?
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