There are just so many damn stories it's hard to keep up. Figured I would put together a little summary of the latest news.
Howard Stern is trying to assemble Tiger's mistresses for a beauty pageant. Apparently he already has 4 of them signed up.
Chris Brown (yes the Rihanna beating Chris Brown) thinks Tiger should get a second chance. Do I really even need to comment?
There is a new App for iPhone called Tiger Text that promises to delete text messages from your phone as soon as they are read.
PETA used Tiger's image on a billboard promoting spay and neuter programs with the caption "Too much sex can be a bad thing." After receiving a Cease and Desist from his lawyers, they decided to switch to South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and a new tag line "Your dog doesn't have to go to South America to get laid."
Apparently turning to Buddhism doesn't get you noticed with one of the religions most prominent figures.
From People Magazine:
Not everyone caught that Tiger Woods press conference last week, starting with a major spiritual leader of the faith the golfer may use to help him cope with a sex scandal.
In what was described as a "brief interview," the Dalai Lama told the Associated Press that he had never heard of Woods, who last week said he plans to explore anew the Buddhist teachings from his childhood.
When the matter was explained to the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader (who was in Beverly Hills for a speech Saturday), he replied that "all religions have the same idea" about adultery.
"Whether you call it Buddhism or another religion, self-discipline, that's important," he said. "Self-discipline with awareness of consequences."
Hate to tell you big guy but I doubt they anything better to do, especially since you gave them a stern talking to in your apology conference. I also love how Elin's name is mentioned first.
Last week the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended golf and rubgy be included in the 2016 Olympic Games. If the final vote is passed, it will be the first time golf is in the Olympics since 1904. Currently proposed are 72 hole competitions with 60 players for men and women. Sixty players in each field. The concept is that golf will serve to grow the game both domenstically and abroad if it is included in the Olympic games. In my mind, international exposure will come from other means.
Golf is already an international sport. Taking a look at the top 10 leaderboard of last week's PGA Championship shows the following flags: Korea, US, England, Ireland, Germany, South Africa, and Italy (including ties). We are already getting a signficant amount of international representation on PGA Tour leaderboards. Golf is not an "every man" sport. The beauty of Basketball is you can set up a hoop almost anywhere and play a pick up game. Football only requires a little bit of land and a ball, soccer is much the same. As a kid I used to throw a baseball around with neighbors in the street when I couldn't go up to the school to play for real. Golf requires a lot of land, a lot of time, and quite frankly a lot of money. The First Tee is an excellent organization bringing golf to new communities. I hope they continue to have their success. Golf in the Olympics would likely only be watched by those that would have watched the weekly televised tournament as it is.
Televising golf would monopolize the time the Olympics are broadcast. Assuming of course, it falls in with telecasts as we know them currently. Four straight hours of golf will likely not sustain an audience. On the other hand, breaking away to coverage of other games will take likely mean key moments in the tournament are rebroadcast, making it difficult to keep the excitement for the viewer.
Golf is proposed now as an individual sport. The Olympics have a team mindset to them that would not be represented for Golf. I would much prefer to see match play foursomes (alternate shot) or some other format. That format currently exists, the Ryder Cup (U.S. vs Europe) or the President's Cup (U.S. vs Everyone Else).
I hope to be proven wrong and the inclusion of golf in the Olympics works.
Congratulation to Y.E. Yang for his second win on the PGA tour and his first major title. He overcame Tiger's lead and became the first Asian born winner of a major championship on the PGA Tour.
He took the lead with an eagle on the short par four 14th where Tiger made Birdie. The momentum really turned the whole before. Tiger failed to cash in on a reasonable birdie chance, while Yang sank a par putt of about the same distance. On any given Sunday, I would have expected that to have been a two shot swing in Tiger's favor. Instead, they walked away tied.
The other shot worth mentioning was Yang's approach on 18. A 3 iron-hybrid that went over a tree and landed right next to the pin. Tiger's approach stopped in the deep rough past the pin, almost completely making the birdie he needed an impossibility.
How are there some important firsts this weekend? The one already mentioned, Yang is the first Asian born major winner. Hopefully that will go a long way to promote the game in Asia. The LPGA has an extensive list of successful Asian champions.
The more important first I saw this weekend, was the first time Tiger has the lead after 54 holes of a major championship and was unable to seal the deal. Saturday Tiger seemed to struggle to control distances with his approach shots. Sunday he seemed to just miss putts that you almost always expect Tiger to make, especially when he is wearing his red shirt.
This year Tiger has shown that he's finally vulnerable. He missed the cut at the U.S. Open, he didn't fare well at the Masters or the British. He lost his Sunday lead at the PGA. Tiger is by far still the number one player in the world I don't expect his domination to cease. There was no doubt that at some point Tiger would be in this situation. He could never sustain a perfect record of Sunday leads. I'm very curious to see how he fares the next time he has the lead at a major on Sunday morning.
Stewart Cink played a brilliant final round, sank a critical putt on the 18th hole and was further under par for the playoff than anyone was for the entire tournament. He won the British Open this past Sunday, and all congratulations are due to him. But I wonder what would the golf world have done had Watson won on Sunday?
How would a Watson victory stack up against past memorable major victories? Nicklaus' Masters victory in 1986 would still rank number one to me. There is almost nothing in golf that compares to the final nine holes of the Masters on Sunday. Nicklaus came from behind to take that victory.
Then there is Hogan's win in 1950 at Merion. Overcoming the effects of the car crash he was in in 1948, where doctors were doubtful he would ever walk again, to win the U.S. Open. It's also forever memorialized by the famous photograph of his follow through after the one iron shot that sealed the tournament.
I would also put Francis Ouimet's victory in 1913 over Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Both Britons that were considered the best in the sport at the time. Ouimet, a young kid at the time bested them and took the championship (Recommended reading: The Greatest Game Ever Played by Mark Frost).
Had Watson won his victory would right up there with these, but would not have overtaken any one of them. It seemed Watson was strategically hanging on through each round. Each day the lead grew closer and closer to par. I had the feeling that at any time a low score could put Watson behind and he would not be able to recover. From a perfect position on the 18th with a one shot lead, Watson's ball ran through the green, and proved too difficult to get up and down for his par. The playoff was too much, the momentum had already turned. Watson's win was not to be.
But again the golf world was treated to a dramatic major championship with stories for the history books. I hope the PGA Tour season ends with the same level of intensity as we have had up to now.
Kenny Perry is proving himself to be a consistent contender on the PGA Tour year after year. He had three wins in 2008, and was a major factor in the United States recovering the Ryder Cup. So far in 2009 he has been in the winner's circle twice, including last weekend, was in a playoff for a Master's victory, and has climbed to fourth in the world rankings. He is also leading the FedEx cup points race.
His performance the past two seasons remind me very much of Vijay's performance in 2004 and 2005. Vijay had more wins and was able to take the number one ranking from Mr. Woods.
So is Kenny Perry the new Vijay Singh? I think he takes the title of best player over 40 (current) very easily. However, I don't think Tiger's ranking of number one in the world is in jeopardy. Singh has the all time record of victories while over the age of 40 that is likely safe as well (22).
I hope we see more success from Perry. He has stated he has a career goal of 20 wins, at his current high level of play it is certainly attainable.
