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Win or lose, Tiger won't get any slack

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Michael Rosenberg


Updated Aug 3, 2009 1:57 PM ET
     
 

GRAND BLANC, Mich.

It is tempting to say that Tiger Woods just won a golf tournament, but since that might not be good enough anymore, let's put it this way: He gave everybody else a one-day head start and won anyway.
Tiger shot 19-under in the final three days of the Buick Open. Nobody else could do better than 17-under in four days. He won by three strokes after shooting a pedestrian 71 on Thursday. Tiger dominated without his "A" game, and it was a reminder that he has almost everything — power, distance control, touch, feel — except for one thing: Slack. Lately, it seems like nobody will cut Tiger a break. He missed the cut at the British Open last month and it was like he showed up drunk and club-less. People wondered if he'll ever be the same again after having major knee surgery 14 months ago. And what we should be wondering is just the opposite: How has he recovered so well? Tiger has won four of 11 events this season. Do you know how many times Phil Mickelson has won four events in a year? Twice. Tiger has done it 11 times. He is first on the money list, even though most of his competitors have played at least 16 events. He is first in scoring average (at 68.37, almost a full stroke ahead of No. 2 Steve Stricker). He leads the Tour in FedEx Cup points, which brought a chuckle from him in the press tent Sunday night, presumably because Tiger Woods does not play for FedEx Cup points. Has any another athlete has recovered from that kind of surgery and immediately resumed being the best player in his sport? Maybe it's happened, but not often. Tiger is dealing with the phenomenon of relative expectations. The more he succeeds, the higher the bar gets. I understand it, to a degree. Obviously, it's disappointing if he becomes just another good player. But this has gotten out of hand. What if we had acted this way when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon? Wow. Great. Now go touch Mars. We need to remind ourselves just how good he has been. Tiger has now won 69 PGA Tour events, which means he will probably pass Jack Nicklaus (73 wins) for No. 2 all-time next year, before his 35th birthday. Even if Tiger wins one tournament every other year, which he could do left-handed and blindfolded, he'll tie Jack when he is 41. To put this in perspective: Tiger Woods has won as many PGA Tour events as Greg Norman, Nick Price, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen combined. If he wins the PGA Championship in two weeks, he'll be the Player of the Year yet again. And if not, well, he missed half of last season and a decent chunk of this one. I don't think it's time to wonder what has happened to his career. You know what we need to do, so we fully appreciate the freakishness of Tiger Woods again? Spend some more time with guys like Michael Letzig. Letzig grew up on a Missouri farm, learned golf from his grandmother and is still coached by his high school coach. He made it to the PGA Tour, and finally into contention in the final round at the Memorial Tournament in May, only to find himself paired with a cyborg. Remember: Letzig is one of the top 100 or so golfers in the world. But he shot 75 while Woods fired a 65 and won the tournament. "I don't even know how to describe it," Letzig said then. "It was the best golf I'd ever seen. This Sunday, Letzig experienced a phenomenon that the French call déjà oh crap. He was one stroke behind Tiger and paired with him in the final group. Remember: Letzig is one of the top 100 or so golfers in the world. He should be ready for this kind of thing by now. But Letzig shot a 73, then said this: "Tiger is laughing at all of us." What can a guy like Michael Letzig do? "If I'm going to be one of the best in the world, I gotta get comfortable playing with him," Letzig said. Let's see, Michael. You have played with Tiger twice and gotten your butt kicked twice. Looks to me like you have the drill down pat.

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