Tag Archives: PGA Tour

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Stand tall, Tiger

Whether he slips on The Masters’s green jacket that goes to the winner of the golf tournament is irrelevant to what I want to say about Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.

The man has “won” a major battle already by returning to play competitive golf after suffering a grievous leg injury in a horrific motor vehicle crash. It occurred a little more than a year ago.

Tiger Woods could have lost his right leg. It was shattered in many places. Surgeons fitted Woods with metal pins and rods to keep his leg. A year later, Woods has completed two rounds of The Masters; he made the cut and will play for the green jacket over the weekend.

I am not going to predict he will win. Indeed, Tiger Woods likely won’t walk away wearing that coveted jacket … although I am not going to bet my retirement account on it.

My point is that even a fierce competitor such as Tiger Woods must feel a good bit of satisfaction that he is able to compete at a high level, given what he has endured for the past year.

I have noted already that Tiger Woods does not consider himself to be “bigger than the game” of golf. I can challenge that just a bit. His mere presence in The Masters field has generated fan interest that has been lacking because of his absence from the game he has dominated for the past quarter century.

Yep. Tiger is at least as big as the game. He has proven himself — once again this week — to be a winner.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Sports news

Let’s admit it: Tiger is bigger than the game

He likely never would admit it publicly, so I’ll say it for him.

Tiger Woods is bigger than the game of golf. Just look at the worldwide reaction to Woods winning his 80th career golf tournament over the weekend. He won the Tour Championship for his first PGA tour victory in five years.

You’d have thought Woods had just won the Grand Slam of Golf, winning all four major tournaments in a single calendar year.

He didn’t. He merely won the season’s final big event, a championship event that drew the biggest names in the game today.

After all he’d been through — the multiple back surgeries, the terrible personal scandal and the nagging self-doubt that he’d ever get his game back — Woods found a way to win. He did so virtually wire to wire at the Tour Championship.

I’ve said it before, but it might bear repeating, so that’s what I’ll do: Tiger Woods might be a dirt bag of a husband, but he’s one hell of a golfer. I enjoy watching this guy play golf almost as I enjoyed watching another of the all-time greats, the late Arnold “The King” Palmer. Indeed, there are similarities here. Both men drew casual viewers to the game. Both men played with panache and flair. Both did so with tremendous success.

I always have pulled for Tiger Woods to make it all the way back from the physical and emotional ailments that bedeviled him.

Tiger Woods is back. And the game is better for his return.

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Mahan is the man

Hunter Mahan is now a hero to expectant mothers around the world.

OK, he’s not exactly a household name, but he’s going to become one in short order.

Mahan is a professional golfer. This past week he was leading the Canadian Open after the first round when his cellphone rang. His pregnant wife was on the other end telling her hubby she was going into labor. With that bit of news, Mahan said “goodbye” to his caddie and his fellow golf pros and headed home to be at his wife’s side.

This is a big deal for a couple of reasons.

First of all, it demonstrates to men all over the planet the importance of family. No matter how important you think your job may be, or how big a deal it is for you to complete whatever transaction in which you are engaged, nothing matters if you don’t take care of things at home.

Second, Mahan stood to make a lot of money this weekend. Had he kept his lead at the Canadian Open and won the event, he would have pocketed more than a million bucks. That’s a lot of money in anyone’s book, but the young man has made a good bit more than that already on the Professional Golfers Association tour. I don’t think it’s money he would dismiss as so much chump change.

I trust his wife – despite his surrendering a substantial payday – was glad to see him.

With all the male misbehavior being reported these days in and out of the sports world, this story ought to make any red-blooded man – not to mention expectant mothers – feel good. Well done, Hunter.