It Was Worthy of Long Memory...

[V. Kmetz]

Though not in the same stirring, tearful way way I watched Jack Nicklaus 33 years ago in the dorm lounge of Queen Anne's Hall at University of MD, today's performance by Woods did leaven me, inspired me, brings a bit of hope to me that if, after so much time, and so low a falling, and so many ways in which the game had passed him by, that there was still a bit of redemption available to him...


Perhaps it's because if it's there for him, it's there for me too as I try tackle the slings and arrows of my own poor fortune and self-immolations. Maybe another day in the sun is out there for me too and I'm not just a 51 year playing out the string in middle-class anonymity.


It's funny, in 1992 when he hit the LA Open or in his run of Amateurs or in his first Masters in 97, Woods was a kid to me (even though I'm only 8 years older than he)...whereas Nicklaus career felt like something of my father's mien, Woods was like a precocious nephew...but now as his head is balding, and the lines in his face deepen, and his demeanor is less charged and more stoic, he is like a brother.


One of my treasured movies is The Natural, and there were so several moments today and this week, that (maybe because I've been anticipating/wishing on them for several years) felt like the story of Hobbs, the preternatural talent laid low by his appetities, his prides and (if you read the original Malamud with its much different ending...) lusts who despite his enormous gifts is still the subject of fate, pentitence, redemption and the energy of the gods...


When all those fine players...Molinari, Koepka, Finau, Poulter went plunking into the water, it felt like more than just a golf tournament; as if the gods had decided Woods had suffered enough disgrace in the last years, enough punishment for vanities which we all posesss...and lighted his path... An hour or so later, when he copied Nicklaus almost note for note on 16, Hobbs had hit the home run into the light towers, the sparks showered down, and the joy of innocence reflected in Pop Fisher's glasses as he rounded the bases.


I don't know what Woods does from here; though I would certainly enjoy a continued pursuit of the statistical mantle of the greatest, Golf is so fickle and these modern players so good I just don't know. I do hope that he embraces this newly reconstituted version of himself and not forget that the people, old and young, love him and that he deigns to bring his game to all the tour stops as much as health and energy alllow... I hope he is able to go to Hartford and Harbour Town and Fort Worth and the Greenbrier another time or two... I hope he can appear in Memphis and continues to play Riviera... I hope he will desire to captain the international teams and permanently re-instate his tournament in the DC-Philly belt... and I hope he will play Champions events with Phil and Ernie and Vijay in another decade...


He deserves to be seen and like Hobbs, when he walks down the street or hits at the range, have people say, "There goes Tiger Woods, the best there has ever been."


cheers  vk

[archie_struthers]

 


I haven't been a huge Tiger fan except of his enormous talent yet it was hard not to root for him yesterday. Even though I had a few quid on Koepka at over 20-1 it was incredible to watch Tiger negotiate his way around the course. His fitness in swinging so fast is really a testament to hard work. It appears his swing might be more efficient than ever and it only needed the return of the putting and chipping to get back to the pinnacle. He has done it, never thought it would happen at this level.


It will be interesting to see if his resurgence will continue, but all signs point to yes.


p.s.   V Kmetz  fellow UM alum  Ellicott Hall  was my first stop as a TERP

[Jeff_Brauer]

For me the most amazing part, architecturally speaking, was his mostly conservative strategy.  After seeing two partners plunk in the water on 12, he aimed way left to make sure it didn't happen to him.  The announcers said it was the Nicklaus strategy.  Anyway, glad to see something other than bomb and gouge be the way to win a Masters, on what is known as a bomb and gougers paradise, no?

[MCirba]

V. Kmetz,

Outstanding.   Thank you.

[Ian Mackenzie]

1. America loves a success story.
2. America loves even more tearing down the success when personal tragedy or moral conflict arises.
3. America then revels in the comeback when all is forgiven and forgotten.

[Niall C]

Archie

I also had Koepka. Mind you I also had Finau, Molinari, DeChambeu, Dustin Johnston and Justin Thomas so I had a good bit of entertainment out of my modest bets even if I didn’t win anything at the end of the day.

Woods has never been one of my favourites although no denying the talent even if it’s hard to ignore the hype. This week he looked fitter and leaner than I’ve seen him in a long time but he also looked a bit more human and less, dare I say it, arrogant. There just seemed to be a bit more humility there as he stumbled over the line at the last, or possibly that was just me projecting.

Whatever the case he deserved the plaudits. He was up against a strong pack over the last two days and even if he won in it in a kind of last man standing fashion as others self-destructed, that should not diminish his achievement as stamina, endurance and the mental fortitude to keep going are all part of the game. A friend of mine suggested he was lucky when he drove his ball into the trees on a number of occasions only to find he had a shot but luck only counts if you take advantage of it which is exactly what Woods did. 

Niall

[Dan Smoot]

It is always good to see someone overcome what seemed to be impossible odds.  Couple that with self induced personal issues under the scrutiny of a microscope.  The fact is Tiger moves the needle in professional golf, winning or losing but in contention, is better for the game.  I do like to see these young, very talented players he is going up against that have no fear of him.


What I like most about this situation is that he appears to be in a much better place in his life.  I surely hope so.  He seems so much better with the fans and in media interviews.  If he stays healthy, there will be more success, but the time we have him performing at this level won't last much longer.  Age will start taking its toll.   It will be bittersweet as it was with Jack and Arnold.

[V. Kmetz]

p.s.   V Kmetz  fellow UM alum  Ellicott Hall  was my first stop as a TERP

Ah the high-rises... I never made it to alum status, AS... I was rightfully yanked back to CT after 3 dissolute semesters majoring in extreme partying.  I actually lived in another North Hill dorm, Wicomico, but was hanging with the only other golf-friendly chum that glorious day in 86... he lived on the other side of Preinkert from me, in Queen Anne's, which had a monster old cabinet color TV, which is why we were there.


My god, Maryland was like Faber College 33 years ago...then Bias died just after the term ended in Spring 86 and the whole place did a 180, and by the next Fall I and my lunatic behaviors no longer fit in there and I returned home.


cheers  vk

[Tom Birkert]

Architecturally, he played it pretty much perfectly. He missed in the right places, shaped his shots the right way, and did what the course wanted him to do. Particularly with his irons (the shape of his approach on 15 for example). It must also be said, he hit 4 perfect tee shots on 14, 15, 17 and 18 when the pressure was really on.


People talk about the intimidation factor not being there any more. Really? Look at Finau and Molinari's scores.


He is The Pied Piper of golf. He's the greatest to ever swing a club.


Time and time again he was written off. If he stays fit, then 19 is absolutely in play. The 15th was always going to be the hardest to get, and he did it at his 5th attempt following his return (having come 6th and 2nd in the previous 2).


I know no one has ever won 4 Majors over the age of 40. But no one is Tiger Woods. No one had won 14 Majors in a decade like he did.


Don't compare him to mortals. He makes history, and I wouldn't bet against him at Pebble Beach (short course, tiny greens, all about iron play).

[A.G._Crockett]

V Metz,Beautifully written; you speak for many of us.  Thank you.

[Eric_Terhorst]

V Kmetz,
 
Well done, the apt comparison to Hobbs, and the reference to our identification of our hero's "slings and arrows" to our own.  Perhaps the story of Tiger Woods is compelling because in some ways he is what we are and in some ways he is what we wish we could be.   


I don't understand the fellows who say "never been a fan of Tiger." Why utter that any time, but especially today?  At least as long-term students of golf course architecture, we ought to be a fan of Tiger's ability to win across three decades on all types of courses, ranging from say, Firestone, to say, St Andrews, from fast-ANGC, to slow ANGC.  Which incredible or precisely made iron shots, putts and chips, whether on links or courses set up for bomb-gouge, cause people who understand golf to "never be a fan"?  Which 12-shot victory at Augusta or 15-shot victory at Pebble Beach did you not admire as a student of golf architecture? 

1. America loves a success story.
2. America loves even more tearing down the success when personal tragedy or moral conflict arises.
3. America then revels in the comeback when all is forgiven and forgotten.

Ian, that's true, and what's not to like?       The lost sheep, the prodigal son, redeemed.   I suppose these days we're particularly hard on heroes and good at scapegoating or vilification, or whatever floats the Twitter boat.  I'm certainly not a scholar of old stories, but it seems to me you've described traits of humans, not just of Americans. 

[Matthew Rose]

1. America loves a success story.
2. America loves even more tearing down the success when personal tragedy or moral conflict arises.
3. America then revels in the comeback when all is forgiven and forgotten.

Said perfectly.

[Colin Macqueen]

VK,


Very well written.


I imagined Tiger as Icarus as he, sadly, fell from grace and now imagine him as Lazarus!  Talk about mixed metaphors!


But I am very happy for him as he has been to hell and back.


Thanks and cheers, Colin.

[archie_struthers]

 


Eric , I'm thinking that you are right about the timing of my reaction to Tiger's win. Today we gather to praise Caesar !


His comeback is more than remarkable

[James Brown]

All I will say is that it was the greatest experience I have had in golf to be at this Masters,  my first.  Tiger won playing WITH the course, not overpowering it, which is really something.  He OUT THOUGHT his competitors.  He played SMART and STRATEGIC golf.  He made 22 birdies and 9 bogies and NO DOUBLE BOGIES. 


And no one else in golf before has ever won in such amazing fashion after so many years of struggle.  I have held out Nicklaus in 1986 as the best moment in golf, but I think this surpasses that. 


Maybe I have lost my perspective because I was there, but I don’t think so. 

[Wayne Wiggins, Jr.]

p.s.   V Kmetz  fellow UM alum  Ellicott Hall  was my first stop as a TERP

Ah the high-rises... I never made it to alum status, AS... I was rightfully yanked back to CT after 3 dissolute semesters majoring in extreme partying.  I actually lived in another North Hill dorm, Wicomico, but was hanging with the only other golf-friendly chum that glorious day in 86... he lived on the other side of Preinkert from me, in Queen Anne's, which had a monster old cabinet color TV, which is why we were there.


My god, Maryland was like Faber College 33 years ago...then Bias died just after the term ended in Spring 86 and the whole place did a 180, and by the next Fall I and my lunatic behaviors no longer fit in there and I returned home.


cheers  vk

That's funny and pretty much my sums up my three-semester experience at College Park as well. I did arrive just post-Bias but that place still knew how to party. And if 20 keg fraternity parties on Monday or the Vous, Cellar, Bentley's, and Santa Fe weren't enough, then DC was a short drive and Metro away. I got spit out of there so fast I needed a Catholic school to right my ship... thank goodness for the Augustinians!


Nevertheless, great take on this year's great finish!


W
 

[Bill Gayne]

College Park was all about the "Vous" back in the day.

[V. Kmetz]

College Park was all about the "Vous" back in the day.

That's funny and pretty much my sums up my three-semester experience at College Park as well. I did arrive just post-Bias but that place still knew how to party. And if 20 keg fraternity parties on Monday or the Vous, Cellar, Bentley's, and Santa Fe weren't enough, then DC was a short drive and Metro away. I got spit out of there so fast I needed a Catholic school to right my ship... thank goodness for the Augustinians!
 

The world (even there) is so different now that I find it historically interesting to reminisce about the profligate manner in which that world lived then...


During Spring Break, when 85% of the population was elsewhere, the Vous was actually at it's worst...a "Most Perverse Method of Drinking Contest" was held and a 4 man team took top honors with an "Anal Chug" that still makes me gag.


"Penning" the act of writing on a helpless passed-out person's face was a very popular activity in the dorms in this day. The most extreme form this took was during one weekend when a guy I only knew as Viking Kurt got destroyed on beer he brewed in his room and was duck-taped to his bed, had cotton glued on his face and extremities and shoe polish applied to his ears and nose, then was (bed and all) macrhed/carried throughout all the floors of all 6 dorms of North Hill...that would be Carroll, Caroline, Wicomico, Queen Anne's, Worcester and Anne Arundel...it was like when King Tut's sarcophagus toured American museums and many a time was Viking Kurt's bier paused for a Polaroid with some random denizens.


Salting the Soda Machines - another beloved scamming pastime was the discovery that the old-style soda machines of that era could be compromised by flooding them with a stadium cup of heavily-concentrated salt water...you just pressed in the flourescent light panel and poured it in, which shorted out the wiring system and let you just press the buttons which then dispensed soda like a free slot machine and sometimes, even gave change back...in the 1985-86 academic year we heisted something on the order of 3000+ sodas (my favorite part of the story is that we drank them all) in our dorm, Preinkert and in the Brinks Job of such heists, hit a massive machine in the back hallways of Cole Field House for like 200 cans *which were difficult to carry in laundry bags I tell you).


Fake IDs - most people had a very poor homemade fake ID that might get clipped at any time, but if you had 60 bucks (a lot of dough then) you went to Washington Hall on South Hill (the dorm where Bias died) and in a non-descript dorm room there was the most sophisticated ID operation I have ever seen, with templates for different states, a laminator and camera set up that was literally like being in a DMV of the time.  The ID I purchased there was Wesley H. Faunce III 24 Miller Road, Silver Spring MD, DOB 7-24-63, which got me through 2 of the three semesters.


Parties -


1. I could take up three whole forum post pages detailing some of this, but I'll leave you with these two highlights...the PiKA house used to have what they called a "Swamp Party" ...whereby they flooded the basement of their house with water to about thigh height and you waded in swim trunks (or whatever) throughout the party...when a keg was beat, it would float to the surface... years of thsi party (I'm told) resulted in the condemnation of the building for a compromised foundation. Scott Van Pelt of ESPN was a PiKA at around the time this party was curtailed.


2. One January weekend two roommates (whom I knew as Stretch and Marine Bill) dumped about 300 sq feet of sand in their 10 x 15 dorm room, decorated the place with neon lights and Hawaiian stuff and had a luau beach party, even cooking shisk-e-bobs on a Hibachi stationed near the window, a quarter keg, a Gennesee beer ball and the best skunky weed I've ever smoked  rounded out the activities.


As Archie and Edith come together cheek-to-cheek..."Those were the days!"

[Niall C]

And no one else in golf before has ever won in such amazing fashion after so many years of struggle. Winning any major is a great achievement but I think you need to calm down and suck on a bit of oxygen to regain your equilibrium  I have held out Nicklaus in 1986 as the best moment in golf, but I think this surpasses that.  There have been countless great moments in golf and where you rank them will depend on your own prejudices. While Woods "comeback" makes a terrific story I'm not sure that this one ranks as one of the greatest Masters in recent years, at least if you were looking at it as a neutral. 


Maybe I have lost my perspective because I was there, but I don’t think so.

[jeffwarne]

Seeing Tiger stand and vanquish the leading "super golfers" from the generation he inspired, made for must see TV.
The best Masters ever, with "86 being second
Jack gave us all that one last thrill after a 6 year Major hiatus that came from age and increased family priorities.


Tiger's hiatus was far longer and a far further drop to the bottom, some self inflicted , some a series of nasty injuries (arguably self inflicted as well by some)


Many were shocked at Sunday.
Anyne who's closely followed Tiger's career and comeback, and his incremental progress-wasn't shocked, but rather see it as the culmination of his slow return to elite status. He's been in the Top 2-6 the last couple majors.
IMHO this was not a final event, and he will remain Major relevant for the next 10 years.
The problem is the depth of competition he spawned, and the equalizing equipment that negates much of his superior skill and experience.

[Matt MacIver]

I too am a Terp grad and was there for the Lenny years and all the debauchery - good times! 


Tiger has been hitting his irons so good the last six months it was inevitable he’d win again; in my mind he was a legit top five contender going into ANGC but I was / am still surprised he won. Has to be a favorite for the other three this year. Winning begets confidence, he said he had it after East Lake last Fall and his Tuesday round friends said they saw it, now the world sees it - watch out.

[James Brown]

And no one else in golf before has ever won in such amazing fashion after so many years of struggle. Winning any major is a great achievement but I think you need to calm down and suck on a bit of oxygen to regain your equilibrium  I have held out Nicklaus in 1986 as the best moment in golf, but I think this surpasses that.  There have been countless great moments in golf and where you rank them will depend on your own prejudices. While Woods "comeback" makes a terrific story I'm not sure that this one ranks as one of the greatest Masters in recent years, at least if you were looking at it as a neutral. 


Maybe I have lost my perspective because I was there, but I don’t think so.

Which Masters would you rank better than this one?

[Tom Birkert]

And no one else in golf before has ever won in such amazing fashion after so many years of struggle. Winning any major is a great achievement but I think you need to calm down and suck on a bit of oxygen to regain your equilibrium  I have held out Nicklaus in 1986 as the best moment in golf, but I think this surpasses that.  There have been countless great moments in golf and where you rank them will depend on your own prejudices. While Woods "comeback" makes a terrific story I'm not sure that this one ranks as one of the greatest Masters in recent years, at least if you were looking at it as a neutral. 


Maybe I have lost my perspective because I was there, but I don’t think so.

Which Masters would you rank better than this one?

I can't think of many. For many years the golf world wanted to see Tiger go up against this new generation he inspired. The players themselves said they wanted it. And they got it - and the Old Dog surgically dismantled them over the back 9.


This was the greatest player ever winning a Major after 11 years, 2 years after back fusion and 1 year after being ranked over 1000 in the World. Doing so by playing flawless golf from 12 onwards when the pressure was really on. Even the short wedge on 18 should have made anyone who suffered the chip yips incredibly nervous.


On the back 9 you had DJ, Koepka and Molinari - three of the best at the moment - all fighting it out with him and they came up short.


The reaction of the crowd said it all. I've never seen anything like that at Augusta. But then no one had seen what we saw at East Lake.


Add in to that the narrative of the PGA Tour wins record being firmly in play and the chase for 19 being back on - as well as the fascination to see if his health holds up and what kind of records he can set as an over 40 year old.


Personally I had him down for 5+ wins including 1 Major this year at the turn of the year. I'd probably revise that now to 3+ wins and another Major as it's clear he is going to focus on the Majors even more than before.


This was a seismic shift, the likes of which have really not been seen before.When Jack won in 86, it was amazing, but it was the footnote to an amazing career. This feels like it is the start of the final chapter of Tiger's career, not the end of it. 15 was always going to be the hardest to get - and Tiger's reaction showed that.

[James Brown]

Well said. 

[Niall C]

Well said.

Seriously ?!

Tom

Good stuff. Still got the Tiger-tinted spectacles on I see. 

As someone who also likes to use the odd emotive word and a bit of hyperbole on occasion, I tip my hat to you. The phrase “surgically dismantled” is a belter but what exactly does it mean in the context of a non-contact sport where everyone plays their own ball ?

“Flawless golf” – another good one. Maybe you can take me through the flawless way he tried to play safe with his tee shot at 12 (quite rightly IMHO) and tugged it to leave a long putt that he then left 7 or 8 feet short. Or maybe you could remind me of his flawless bogey at the last hole that included ricochets through the trees with both his tee shot and second ? Woods played a lot of impressive shots, but flawless he wasn’t.

As for the greatest golfer ever, he wasn’t there. He was probably back at home, sitting on the sofa with Barbara, watching the event on TV. And I actually agree that it will be good to see Woods against the next/current generation (not that I’ve been waiting for it) but let’s not forget this Masters wasn’t the first instalment. Just last year Woods got himself up at the top of the leader board in the final round at Carnoustie only to crumble like a choking dog (told you I could do hyperbole  ) while his playing partner comprehensively out played him. 

Niall