Friday, July 17, 2009

Tiger's Meltdown Shouldn't Overshadow Watson

Tiger melted down.  Yes, he did.  There's no other way to say it.  More than one person has told me today that he just...well, melted down.  He wasn't in the game mentally.  We know this becasue every time he took a shot into the high grass, he seemed to lower his head, bang his club...meltdown.
 
Hey, it happens.  It happens in every sport and it especially happens in a sport like golf where the environment changes week to week, hour to hour and sometimes, at a place like Turnberry, minute to minute.  Lest we forget, Tiger is still coming off of a devastating knee injury.  Has the knee fully healed?  Yes.  But the harsh conditions at Turnberry today couldn't have helped matters.  The knee has healed for say the AT&T National under perfect conditions or the Arnold Palmer under decent conditions, but Turnberry?  Where the wind is crazy intense and the cold can seep into the knee and practically freeze it?
 
Let's give the greatest golfer a Mulligan for once.  We've given plenty to Ali, Jordan and Brett Favre.  No worries, El Tigre.  We know you'll be back!
 
What golfing fans should do is turn their attention to Tom Watson.  Watson started the day at -5, then bogeyed four of the first seven holes to go to -1 but climbed his way back and into a tie for the lead by shooting par for the round and finishing at -5 again.  That's amazing considering that he's 59 years old.
 
Watson's lead at Turnberry is especially cool considering that everybod's been talking about The Duel with Jack Nicklaus in the 1977 British Open on this course.  
 
The fact that Watson had to regain his composure and get hmself back into the lead after shooting a +4 during the first seven holes today tells me that the legend has an actual shot at winning this thing.   

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