Eclipsing Nicklaus becomes tougher for Tiger (Yahoo! Sports)
November 30, 2009
The earlier dramatic changes in his personal life did not derail Tiger Woods one bit in his steady pursuit of the single career achievement than means more than any other: securing major title No. 19 to pass the legendary Jack Nicklaus.
He got married to Elin Nordegren in October of 2004. No problem. Woods won the Masters and PGA in 2005.
His father and mentor, Earl, died in May of 2006. After missing the cut in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in June, he captured the British Open and the PGA.
Nothing, it seemed, not even a broken leg in June of 2008, could keep Woods from racking up majors at the rate of about one a year to reach the total of 14.
Nothing until now.
And this is different. Much different.
How he will extricate himself, and his reputation, from his current predicament over a mysterious late-night car accident is unclear. It will not be with the typical smoothness he demonstrates in his day job. As private and controlling as Woods is, the media, which has been overly deferent to him through the years, will not fold like his overmatched playing partners on Sunday afternoons. The media will make bogeys, perhaps a slew of them, but it will also make Y.E. Yang, who outdueled Woods at this year’s PGA, look passive by comparison.
Yet, how ever Tigergate plays out, one consequence seems irrefutable: Woods will never be quite the same, nor will our perception of him, and that has to affect him on the golf course. He is human. Even he admits it.
Since he made a few early mistakes – the off-color jokes he told in a 1997 GQ story stand out – Woods has escaped any real scrutiny off the course in over a decade since.
Forget about his frequent profanities in the heat of battle. They have barely made a ripple in his rep. A club “flew” out of his hands, hit the ground, and then bounced into the gallery in Australia a few weeks ago, and he essentially got a free pass. Nothing has come close to causing damage to his status as a worldwide hero.
Already, in 2009, however, we learned he is no longer automatic in majors when he has the lead going into the final round.
But that incredible mark of perfection – he was 14-for-14 before Hazeltine – was bound to fall and he knew it. Those who suggest he will feel more pressure the next time he finds himself in a similar position, and therefore more likely to come up short again, are fooling themselves. Woods has always known how to block out everything else, even prior failings, when in a zone only he can attain.
Give Woods a two-shot lead over Yang next time in the final round of a major, and who do you think you will prevail? Next question.
Yet surpassing Jack will now be more difficult than ever. Besides the competition from the improving young guns, Woods, who turns 34 later this month and is likely to face more physical issues in the years ahead, must learn to cope with a landscape that has been altered for good. Even he is powerless to change that.
He will surely generate plenty of support from his colleagues on the PGA Tour – the game would be in tremendous trouble without him – and from his fans. But the unpredictable remains just that, unpredictable.
Perhaps there is an opportunity here for Woods. Perhaps, in his greatest personal test, he will reach out to the public like never before and understand we are a forgiving society ready to admire and adore him even more if he were to address the unresolved questions of last Friday and admit his mistakes, and not in a statement on his Web site. We want to see him and hear him in person and then, only then, can we all move on.
The pressure on Woods to eclipse Nicklaus will be intense, especially as he edges closer to the mark he has dreamed about since he was a kid. Majors No. 18 and 19 will be the hardest of all.
Gone, due to Yang’s remarkable play, is the inevitability the rest of the field has always sensed when Woods was in his customary position on top of the leaderboard on Sunday afternoons. The way in which other accomplished players suddenly looked like hackers was one of the most puzzling, and impressive, parts of the Woods era.
From now on, nothing will be certain on the course.
Nothing will be certain off the course, as well.
Michael Arkush is an editor for Yahoo! Sports. Send Michael a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.
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