A Competitive Edge

“Do you feel like the Tiger Woods of old?” - Mark Schwartz  

“I feel like an older Tiger Woods, ya” -Tiger Woods

To most people using the word excitement and golf in the same sentence is moronic and confusing, but it’s true. Yes at times watching golf can be compared to watching paint dry but not The Masters. Going into the tournament there were many story lines, like “is Tiger back” or “who is the favorite”. To be totally honest, after Tiger’s performance at Bay Hill I was convinced he was back and a hands down favorite to win The Masters. Well that didn’t happen. He shot even par on his first day and then it went down hill from there, finishing at a 5 over on the tournament (his worst ever). So who was going to take the storyline? Mickelson made one hell of a run after a 2 over 74 in round 1. He shot a solid 68 and 66 putting him in the final paring on day 4 one back of the lead. All the critics were saying “that it was his to lose” (meaning Mickelson). Unfortunately, the lefty did loose it shooting even par 72 two strokes short. You may be asking yourself, who had the lead? Louis Oothuizen? Bubba Watson? They both had great final rounds sending them to a sudden death playoff. Now this was just another classic Augusta National, right? In Masters history there have been a total of 14 playoffs not including the one that happened today. It was yet another classic finnish. They both par’d the first playoff hole (#18) which would send them over to hole 10. Both players shanked their drives, even though Oothuizen was left with a great lie, but Bubba on the other hand had to make a miracle happen. And he most certainly did, hitting a power hook right up onto the green from roughly 150 yards out. Oothuizen on the other hand failed to get it on the green leaving him with a lengthy chip. Oothuizen managed a 5 (bogey) on the hole while all eyes turned to Bubba Watson. He had about a 15 foot birdie putt. He missed it, but he still had the opportunity to win it with a tap in par. The crowd was dead silent as well as everybody across the country watching The Masters. The putt went in! Bubba Watson was the 2012 Masters champion. A milestone only few accomplish, joining Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, and many more. You can’t possibly hate golf after watching this tournament. Pure excitement! Congratulations Bubba Watson (The other Lefty).

If Bubba didn’t have many fans before today, well he does now

924 days of not winning, one messy divorce, and a whole lot of public humiliation changed the game of golf forever.  1997- 2009, Tiger Woods won sixty nine tournaments on pace to break Jack Nicklaus’s record for majors at 18.  And then the wheels started to fall off.  It was one big accident near thanksgiving time that caused nearly a hundred woman to fess up about them and Tiger (sexually speaking).  March 25th 2012 marked the day Tiger overcame all his problems and just simply won.  Ironic enough, The Master is one week from today and Tiger is the favorite to win (and he should be).  Tiger Woods made golf and iconic sport.  He made kids want to play and be like him. All I ever want to see on Sundays is that good old Tiger red.