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Sports Watch
TIGER Woods continues to amaze. Not only with his record-breaking victories in winning three majors this year, and the outlandish sums of money he has earned on and off the golf course. But especially his shot-making, which comes as close to golfing perfection as humanly possible. Woods even
surprising to himselfSo when Woods says that he even surprised himself, you know that how he won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Wednesday was truly remarkable.
Woods eagled the par-5 finishing hole twice -- the first to force a playoff and the second to win the event for a record third straight time.
He never had a finish like this before, although there were echoes of the 2000 Mercedes Championships which he won with a eagle-birdie-birdie finish.
But he certainly never had back-to-back eagles in a tournament when everything's been on the line.
The two second shots to the 550-yard finishing hole at the Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course were practically carbon copies.
"It was nice to be able to execute the shots the way I wanted. I hit them perfect," Woods said. "I hit two of the most identical shots I've ever hit."
Both led to eagle putts that were exactly on the same line and nearly identical in length.
The second eagle putt was 2 feet farther. But, hey, nobody's perfect, not even Tiger Woods.
Still, he's playing a level of golf that's out of this world. Clearly, 2000 was the greatest year any golfer has ever had.
Woods earned a record $9.1 million on the PGA Tour, won three majors and captured the PGA player of the year and Vardon Trophy for the second straight year.
Said Tom Watson, the only player to win both awards in the same year three straight times (1977-79), "You are seeing a phenomenon that the game may never, ever see again."
Golf fans in Hawaii are fortunate in getting to see Woods at least twice a year at the PGA Grand Slam and the Mercedes Championships. And, who knows, one of these years, maybe the Sony Open in Hawaii as well.
Woods says that he is far from perfecting his game. That he's still learning, especially learning patience.
He says he's managing his game better, recognizing that there will be days when he doesn't have it. On those days, he said, you somehow just have to grind it out and keep yourself in the tournament.
But he's also a realist. He knows that some day he won't be the game's dominant player. That may be a few years away since Woods is only 24.
"That's reality,'' he said. "Someday that day will come. There will come a point in time when some new little punk will be about 6-foot-6 and 230 just bombing it by me.
"I'll be one of those old guys saying, 'I remember when I used to be the long guy, now I'm just dinking it around here.' I will accept it. But somehow, I'll find a way to compete."
But the reality is now, and he's Tiger Woods. He's not only real, he's unreal.
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING:
The PGA Grand Slam of Golf will return again to the Poipu Bay Resort Golf Course and Hyatt Regency Kauai Resort & Spa next November, most likely during Thanksgiving week. ... If he wins a major in 2001, Woods will be back for his fifth straight year and trying to make it four titles in a row. ... The sponsoring PGA of America donated $15,000 to the Kauai Junior Golf Association. Accepting the check was Mary Bea Porter-King, the outgoing KJGA president, who was recently named to the USGA executive committee. Replacing her as the new KJGA president is Puukea pro Kellie Pleas.
