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Sports Watch
BY now, surely all superlatives have been exhausted in talking about Tiger Woods. There’s more
to come from
Tiger WoodsWhat more can you say about Tiger after his dominating victory in the 100th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach?
Listing the records he set in sending the rest of the field in shock would take up too much space.
But two of them help to make the point that we all are fortunate to be living in a time when the greatest golfer of them all is in our midst:
If Tiger had a Web site, it would be www.norivals.com.A record 12-under par for the U.S. Open championship, golf's most difficult major.
It's as if the U.S. Open had two fields -- Tiger and A-Flight.
No wonder NBC-TV analyst Johnny Miller called it "the greatest performance in golf history."
This is from a guy who shot a final-round 63, the lowest 18-hole score in any major championship, to win the 1973 U.S. Open.
Maybe Tom Watson summed it up the best:
"I've said a number of times that Tiger Woods has the best swing on tour," Watson said.
"Couple that with the fact he's the longest hitter on tour, has the best short game on tour, and is one of the best putters on tour."
Added Darren Clarke, who finished 29 shots back of Woods: "He is playing a different game than the rest of us."
No wonder everyone else is playing for second place.
What's even more remarkable than Tiger's talent is his charisma.
As good as the Los Angeles Lakers are, would you have still stayed glued to your TV sets if their NBA title-clinching victory yesterday over Indiana had been a blowout?
TIGER'S runaway victory was a foregone conclusion. Yet few viewers reached for their remotes. Instead, they watched the U.S. Open telecast until the end.
The only suspense was if Tiger would break the U.S. Open record of 272, which he tied. Otherwise, it was over before it was over.
But with scenes of the visually stunning Pebble Beach course and mostly because the viewer-magnetic Tiger was constantly on the screen, NBC had a ratings winner.
NBC's coverage of the final two rounds of the tournament drew an average overnight rating of 7.5 with an 18 share, according to numbers released by Nielsen Media Research.
It's the highest two-day average for the U.S. Open since overnight ratings were instituted in 1975.
Tiger might not be good for the rest of the players, but he's sure good for the game of golf, giving it a crossover appeal that Michael Jordan gave the sport of basketball.
And Tiger's just getting started, folks.
"Everybody was looking for the next Michael and they were always looking on the basketball court," Nike chairman Phil Knight told a Vancouver newspaper. "He was walking down the fairway."
And walking straight into history, which is waiting for Tiger at St. Andrews, site of this year's British Open.
With his U.S. Open victory, Tiger now has three legs on golf's grand slam in as many years, having won the Masters and the PGA Championship.
He can join Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Gene Sarazen as the only golfers to win all four of the majors by adding the British Open.
Winning all four is the goal of every golfer.
It's nice to know, Tiger still has some goals left to achieve. You hate to think he had done it all at age 24.