Let's Talk About Golf

I watched maybe an hour or two hours of the British Open this weekend, which was probably an all time low for me for a major golf tournament in awhile. Granted, I had to work a lot but if I didn't I would not have made it a point to wake up to watch it with the blowout inflicted by Louis Oosthuizen.

He played some great golf and I am not taking that away from him, but no one wants to see a nobody blow away the competition. It's an impression and who knows with his age (27), Oosthuizen could make some waves. I just want one of these nobodies to win some majors or at least be around in the top 10 in big tournaments. That's what pisses me off is a lot of these nobodies do not do anything after they win a major. I think they have the theory of 'this is the apex, I never expected a major championship so now that I am here, I don't need to try as hard.' 

When it all boils down to it, I miss Tiger Woods' dominance. I loved the tournaments where Tiger would blow away the competition like Oosthuizen did this weekend because it just proved he was the best player in the world.  I think he probably will never regain the form that he once had because he is getting older, not due to the scandal.  Woods will get his first win some point and it will be great, yet Tiger will not be that same player who could win the major slam.

-Charlie.

Masters Made For Phil

I probably watched the most Masters I have ever watched because I wanted to see how Tiger Woods responded to all the pressure and I saw that plus a ton of great golf.  Truly a special weekend in Augusta for multiple people.   

Before we talk about Phil, I was impressed with how good Tiger Woods played. I understand he had multiple bogeys and yo-yoed more than Jessica Simpson's weight but seriously to finish fourth with the media breathing down your neck is pretty awesome.  He made some great shots but you could tell he was rusty with the short game. I felt if he had made birdie on 14, he could eagle and birdie the next which would have made a push at Mickelson yet probably wouldn't have won it. I will bet a bunch of cash that Tiger wins at least one this year. 

On to Phil Mickelson's great play, a guy who buried all the talk of him being a choke by dominating the course on Sunday with a bogey-free round.  Granted, Phil had some dogshit shots especially off the tee but still he found a way to make par or even birdie (that shot on 13 ranks in my top ten of the best shots). Because of various reasons, I missed Phil's back-to-back eagles which disappoints me to say but I had no one in the room who wanted to watch golf, sad times.  Even watching the replays, I had the feeling that Phil was going to win this thing going into Sunday.  Then you see all the breaks he caught during the final round, I knew Phil was going to win this thing, no way was he choking this one away like he has done at multiple US Opens. 

I believe that to complete Phil's career, he wants that US Open badly.  He could definitely win at Pebble Beach, where I believe he has won before. I think after all the hardships the US Open has caused him throughout his career and he would want that US Open.  Phil is no longer in the category of Greg Norman and others who have choked in the past, I can no longer call Phil a choke... This saddens me but I still have Sergio Garcia. 

I am not in any way a Phil fan but I did love to see him win because of all of the things he has gone through this year with both his mom and wife battling breast cancer. I am sure golf seems so trivial when that stuff is happening but Mickelson found a way to win the biggest tournament for the golf season.

-Charlie.

Tiger. Is. Back.

Tiger Woods, the most talked about man in sports in the past five months has finally chose when he will be coming back to the game of golf... 2010 Masters.  Like every situation with Tiger in the past five months, there is an array of opinions on whether this is a good move or a bad move.  I personally love it, and I will give you some reasons why. 

1.) No media/fan concerns- The Masters will not let any average joe just waltz into Augusta's crowd and people are not allowed to yell/run while watching the golfers.  Now this sounds more uptight than a girl wearing metal underwear but still for Tiger, this is the right play. He will not be annoyed by the TMZ or the gossip media, which will probably happen for the first time at Pebble Beach for the US Open. At Augusta, Tiger will be in his own little world.

2.) The love of Augusta- Ask any golfer from age fifteen to age eight-five they would probably give up their left ball to play at Augusta National, well maybe not that but at least their pancreas.  How could Tiger pass up the opportunity of playing Augusta because unlike the other majors, there is the chance to play their again sometime that year. 

3.) The Grand Slam possibility- The big white elephant in the room about this whole thing is if Tiger wins the first major of the year, we could be looking at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin to decide whether Woods can achieve the Grand Slam of Golf.  This is completely plausible with the next two majors being at Pebble Beach where Tiger throttled their US Open course, and St. Andrews, probably where Tiger plays the best overseas.  He didn't play well the first time in Kohler but who knows this time around.

4.) Ratings bonanza- Alright this is a selfish reason but really we all know that this will be the biggest sporting event of 2010.  There are maybe two or three things that could top this... (Cubs-Yankees World Series, Kobe-LeBron NBA Finals,)  I still think Tiger returning to Augusta will remain the biggest sporting spectacle this year. Don't think that just because Tiger hates the media, that he doesn't love being in the spotlight.

Jalen Rose reminded everyone on ESPN First Take "Remember when Jordan came back for the first time and dropped a double-nickel on the Knicks?"  "You don't forget to play the sport you excel at."  Exactly my thoughts about Tiger Woods, he will be competing if not winning the Masters come Sunday.

-Charlie.

My Long Awaited Tiger Post

I need to do it.   I am sorry to all.  It has to be done.  Another person writing about Tiger Woods, and not to mention, I am three days late.  What?!  That's a lifetime, so many things have happened... you cannot do that.  Well, I am going to and I am writing three other posts so I am actually burying the whole thing all together but whatever here I go.

Tiger Woods had always been one of my athletes because I believed that he was the hardest worker in his sport plus was the absolute best at what he did.  I never really cared that he pretty much hated everyone in the media and that he hated the fans in many ways.  If Tiger had it his way, he would play in front of no one and just play golf taking advice from caddy Steve Williams.  But that didn't matter to me and honestly when the allegations of him cheating on his wife Elin, I felt like he is just like any other athlete and I stood by him because if you decided not to like every pro that cheated, you wouldn't like anyone in professional sports.

The other questions to all the Tiger haters... Did Tiger kill a guy?  Nope, that was Dante Stallworth and Leonard Little of the NFL who were both drunk when they killed a man and virtually got away with it (both playing in the NFL). Did Tiger beat up animals?  Nope, no wasn't Woods either, that was Michael Vick who honestly did his time, yet he still hurt many "mans-best friend" and the images really make you cringe.  Did any of Tiger's mistresses accuse him of rape?  Nah, that was Kobe Bryant who like a lot of athletes cheated on his wife and got caught. The reason why people cared about Tiger Woods was simple, no one saw it coming.

People believed that Tiger lived his life played golf and was this class-act citizen. The media made him out to be the greatest guy in the world and loved his wife more than any person of the world. Woods understood that no one would report on his indiscretions because simply, it's Tiger Woods.  No one ever went against Woods because he would find a way to bury you.  The media never questioned things Woods did because he is the most well-known athlete in the world.  The PGA never dealt with something like this and had no idea how to handle such a topic in a country-club sport.    Every week, people wanted more about Tiger because it mesmerized people that this could actually happen to a person held with such high regard and statchure.  Therefore, it did not surprise me in the slightest that people especially the media had such mixed reactions about Tiger's apology.

People of my Dad's age loved it thought it was genuine and sincere.  While people my age hated it and though he could have done much better.  I personally am going to take the old guys side in this one because I knew going into the whole thing that Tiger never really shows emotion. People called him out for being a robot and not really caring, but let me ask you this when have you ever seen an interview with Tiger where he was emotional?  Only when his dad passed away did Tiger seem vulnerable when talking about a certain topic. The speech exposed Tiger and made him apologize to the world for CHEATING.  It happens a lot in our society and to make a guy apologize for not living up to the standards that media put before him is absolutely absurd.  Tiger's people said "The world needs to hear from you because you cannot live in fear of them." I agree that he needed to say something but to just lay it out there to apologize to the world for committing multiple infidelities is plain stupid.  

I think Tiger is done for the year.  I hate to say that but I really do not think he wants to come back this year dealing with the amount of media pressure that will be on him all year.  Let him handle his business and figure out how to save his marriage before he tries to play golf at various locations around the United States.  If at any point, Elin decides that Tiger and her cannot work then it's time for Tiger to play golf again. Although, if Tiger Woods wants to come back, he can because simply, he is Tiger Woods.

-Charlie.

Tiger Sent to his Cage

Well I am sad.  The reason I am sad is because Tiger Woods is taking a leave of absence from the game of golf.  This disappoints me in so many ways for the PGA tour and my golf-watching in the beginning of 2010. I think this is the right decision but like I said, still saddens me. 
Woods announced today that he will take an "indefinite leave" from the game of golf and there is no timetable set for when he will come back.  The columnist "genius" that is Rick Reilly feels that Tiger will not be back until the US Open or evne the British Open.  Unfortunately, this makes Reilly look on top of the sportswriters world for now, which is probably a good thing because he hasn't wrote a good thing since he went to ESPN. I believe that Woods will not let himself miss the Masters because he wants to show that he still reigns supreme in the game of golf.  

The Tiger Woods saga has been the hottest topic of the last three weeks and something that isn't dying anytime soon.  The reason why is because Woods keeping himself away from the media and protecting himself. I really do not want to tell Woods want to do with his life because everyone and their mother has done that shit for the last two weeks.  None of these people are Tiger's life coach nor should they try to be. The reason why?  None of these assclowns have dealt with this shit ever because one, they aren't on the scale of Tiger's worldwide popularity and two, they write about sports not about how to approach a cheating situation.  

Tiger, I hope you come back at full strength and honestly on the scale of sports scandal Mecca cheating ranks last, next comes DUI, next comes sexual assault, and murder if it ever occurs. This is a mistake that many men do but at the same time, I am not cheering on Tiger for his recent trysts.  Woods will dominate whenever he decides to return, I pray it's not too long.

-Charlie.

Something Tells me Tiger isn't Welcomed at any LPGA Events....

And there you have it... It has been revealed that some cocktail waitress from Los Angeles admitted to having a two and half year affair with one Tiger Woods.  The funniest thing about the whole thing is that this girl was on Tool Academy on VH1.  For those who do not watch reality television as much as I do, Tool Academy is a trashy show about how boyfriends (tools) act in the douchiest possible ways and their girlfriends likely find out they have cheated.

Anyways, Jamiee Grubbs (Of course this is not a traditional way to spell Jamie, Tiger should have known problems where on the rise) decided to get 15 to 30 minutes of fame and run with it.  Releasing a voicemail from Tiger and there are 300 text messages from Tiger, which according to friend of the Corner, Eric tells me that they could be consisted of what one would call sexting. Basically, Tiger is screwed.  Simple as that, some of the endorsement money will go away for awhile and maybe Elin divorces him translating into half of Tiger's worth no matter if a prenup was set up. 

One thing I do not get and Eric once again pointed this out to me.  Tiger is very comparable to anonymous roommate of mine.  We shall call him Floyd.   Floyd doesn't like to let know where he goes at pretty much all times leaving us to wonder where Floyd is. Unlike the rest of us who know pretty much where everyone is at all times. None of really care about Floyd's personal life but because he keeps it so guarded, speculation builds and we give him shit for it.  If Floyd is leaving, at least he could give us a bullshit excuse to lose interest in his life.

This relates to Tiger because he is hiding just like Floyd does.  Now everyone in sports and celebrity gossip world is speculating what's next about Tiger?  If he just came out and said "Hey I cheated, screwed up, Elin and I are going to group counseling to figure this out to save our two young children from going through a divorce."  That's it, over and done with it in about three weeks.  Now this will become a multi-month story and be the biggest build-up to a PGA event in January since God knows when. Tiger needs to do major PR work and try his best to get the celebrity media hounds off his ass. 

I hate the fact that US Weekly and TMZ cover this more than ESPN.  They want to protect Tiger just like everyone else in the sports world therefore you are letting these gossip magazines take all of your stories. Is this what's going to be the standard. I have paged through my fair share of US Weekly's (sad I know) and never could I remember seeing Tiger Woods in there.  ESPN did a shitty job of reporting this because Tiger is a Godsend to that network and endangering that friendship would be detrimental.   

Once again, I said it last week... I will still support Tiger. Everybody screws up in life and due to being in the public eye, people have to find out his transgressions as Tiger liked to call it. I said earlier this has a 50% chance of screwing 2010 for him, I have moved that to 65%.  Something tells me sadly, this isn't the end of it.  Once US Weekly puts you on a cover, you are there for a month unless something happens bigger. Pray for that Tiger.

-Charlie.   

Tiger Isn't a Robot Afterall.

In terms of top five things I wouldn't expect to happen this year, Tiger Woods getting into a major accident because his wife attacked him with a golf club due to him cheating on his wife.  Shit, that might even be a top three thing that I wouldn't see coming.  This has the makings of being a lesser version of Kobe Bryant fiasco. 

If it comes out that he did cheat on his wife like the gossip hounds are preying on right now about Tiger and this supposed other women.  The first I heard of it was on Deadspin, and didn't have a lot of meat to the story then he gets in this crazy accident the next day, which sounded like he drank and drive.  Now, the next day he supposedly cheated on his wife... unreal.  

Unfortunately, he is going to be destroyed by the media if he cheated on his wife and it will be the hot-topic debate for Around the Horn, First and 10, and PTI for sure probably SportsCenter too.  The crazy thing is this has NEVER happened to golf.  Not Jack, Arnold, Gary Player, Seve, none of the premier golfers ever got in this deep of trouble.  Only the likes of John Daly leading people to laugh at Big John for amusement. 

It will be hard for Tiger to be liked by the media next year if they find out that he cheated.  How awkward does the Masters become if Tiger is leading on the back nine?  Do people root against him, which would be Brett Favre-esqe of a group of people loved him to death and now cannot stand him.  I have no idea how the media likes of Jim Nantz, Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, and Nick Faldo. 

Me personally, I forgave Kobe Bryant.  Everybody screws up in life and yes, cheating isn't something should happened in any martial relationships.  I will still cheer on Tiger Woods, he is a hell of an athlete and I say there is a 50% chance that this will hurt him 2010, right now. 

-Charlie.

Y.E. Yang... What the Hell?

Looking back on Sunday at Hazeltine for the PGA Championship, everyone on their Twitters and Facebooks who gave a damn about golf wrote stuff like Tiger is winning today no doubt, here a song for Tiger because he has this wrapped up already blah blah. The only thing is Tiger didnt win the tournament and I watched him play one of the worst rounds I think I have ever seen Tiger play. Before we get going on Tiger, lets talk about Yang.

He played a great round of golf and was one of the only people that outplayed Woods on the last round, last pairing in a major championship. Every time a new guy comes along, Tiger seems to mow him down and move on to win another title. That didnt happened today with Yang chipping in an awesome eagle on 14th then playing one of the best second shots I have seen on 18th. Yang deserves a lot of credit for what he did today. Also how predictable was the typical Jim Nantz winning call "Y-E-S!!!!!!" If you notice, Nantz always does that shit for whatever sport.

Now on to Mr. Woods. He had a day that you usually see out of Phil Mickelson or any guy who has Tiger breathing down his back. I dont understand how he can go bogey-free one day this week then the other barely miss every putt. He had one of those days that you would never expect to see out of Tiger. I was texting people how rattled he looked, think when was the last time you saw Woods shaken by his opponent? I will take it back to Little Giants, there is always that "one time" where you might see something you usually would. This was Tiger's one time which will probably be one of his most memorable majors. People dont let you forget this shit when you are in sports. I hope for Tiger that in Augusta next April, he will come back with a vengeance to dominate the field.

-Charlie.

Guess Whose Back?!

And boom goes the dynamite. Tiger Woods is back and ready to take over the golf world once again.

I had not thrown myself back into the golf world until this weekend when I was at the gym hoping to see the Elite Eight game but the CBS feed wasnt working so I watched the golf tournament. It looked like it was Sean O'Hair tournament to lose because he was dominating the field up by four-plus strokes during Saturday and then ended up being up five strokes on Woods. Also the only reason Woods was in the final pairing was because he chipped in a bogey shot after hitting the water on 18.

O'Hair and Woods played a couple rounds together although it had been all Woods so far. Woods had been lying in the weeds all round long and then O'Hair started to get nervous by bogeying a couple holes with Tiger staying -4. Then he hits a birdie while O'Hair bogeys the hole being them all even. Uncharacteristically, Tiger bogeys 17th with a lead after going for the pin and landing directly in the bunker. They were all-squared going into the 18th with Dan Hicks reminding us of this every two to four minutes which became very annoying and how Tiger had buried people before on 18th at Bay Hill.

Well Dan Hicks didnt have the announcer's jinx because Tiger hit on on the fairway then stuck in 10ft on the pin, and birdied the hole with a giant fist pump. I think this proves once again that every golfer in the PGA is afraid to be in the final group with Tiger especially when Tiger is trailing. O'Hair finished +3 with a 73 and that usually is the score of the guy playing with Tiger

He hasnt lost a step and there isnt a reason to think he is not the favorite for the Masters in two weeks.

-Charlie.

#1 is Back

Dont look now golf world but Tiger Woods is back in action this week at one my personal favorite tournaments, the Accenture Match-Play Championship where he looks to defend his title.

Many people did not except Tiger to be back by this time as most were projecting the Masters for his return. He probably turned on a golf tournament in the last couple of weeks and knew that it was time to start dominating again. If Tiger won with his MCL torn, I dont really see how he cant win with a repaired knee now. I am not saying I think Woods will win four majors this year but there is always that possibility when dealing with the best individual in any sport.

There are so people who could give two shits about golf, this I know and those are the same people who would say "Tiger isnt an athlete because he is playing a sport that overweight guys over the age of fifty can play." So wrong to anyone who thinks that. Tiger has to play four rounds of golf in consecutive days therefore being on his feet for a good four hour time span in where he has to focus on every shot. He also consistently hits a golf ball over 300 yards with pure accuracy something that not a lot of us could do.

The other thing about Tiger are that makes him the ultimate best is that he is the only athlete in his sport where others around him crumble because they cannot deal with the pressure of having Tiger on your ass or on the other hand, golfers just give up because they know that Tiger is the best on the course that week by round two.

-Charlie.

Tiger Woods Unbeatable?

I know this post is about a week late but I felt like still making a point of it. Tiger Woods is amazing right now, he is playing the best golf I have seen out of him in years. The question everyone posed on Monday, could he make a run at Byron Nelson streak of eleven straight?

I personally hope he gets close or does it because it would definitely bring the casual fan to golf to see if he had a chance at winning it. I have a tough time seeing it happen only because the Masters is still always tough and everyone brings their A game. Sawgrass has been an absolute bitch to Woods in years past. Also if he is gunning at this record doesn't that inspire others to be that much better to try to knock off the titan of golf right now.

The argument for it is that Woods does not play every week and sometimes it a three week period before he decides to play in a tournament. That gives him the ability to keep up with the grind of golf. I think if anything that plays to advantage and people are disappointed he did not play a lot in the West Coast Swing although he has dominated the Benz Championship, and Pebble Beach. I really think he should of tried to challenge Rivera again since he has been awful there.

You can already write it down as Tiger being my pick to win the Masters and hopefully he still is unbeaten.

Charlie.