Maybe ...
"This one is for you, Pop."
Woods rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole yesterday to take his fourth Masters title to go with those three U.S. Amateur trophies, two U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and one British Open. With nine professional majors, Woods is now tied with Ben Hogan and Gary Player behind Walter Hagen (11) and Nicklaus (18). The 12 overall major titles put him in third place on that list behind Bobby Jones (13) and Nicklaus (20).
This year Tiger passed Jimmy Demaret (1940, 1947, 1950), Sam Snead (1949, 1952, 1954) Gary Player (1961, 1974, 1978) and Nick Faldo (1989, 1990, 1996) who each wore 3 green jackets, and is now tied with Arnie for 4.
Jack Nicklaus (6) 1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986
Arnold Palmer (4) 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964
Tiger Woods (4) 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005
Eight other great players have won more than won jacket -- Jimmy Demaret (1940, 1947, 1950), Sam Snead (1949, 1952, 1954), Gary Player (1961, 1974, 1978),
Nick Faldo (1989, 1990, 1996), Horton Smith (1934, 1936), Byron Nelson (1937, 1942), Ben Hogan (1951,1953), Tom Watson (1977, 1981), Seve Ballesteros (1980, 1983), Bernhard Langer (1985, 1993), Ben Crenshaw (1984, 1995), Jose Maria Olazabal (1994, 1999).
Will there be more victories for Tiger this year that he will dedicate to his father, Earl?
The next major is the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, where Woods played well in 1999 when Payne Stewart won. The British Open is at St. Andrews where he won by eight strokes in 2000. And the PGA Championship will be at Baltusrol, which will be set up well for a long hitter.
Time will tell.
Cap's off to Chris DiMarco for providing the gritty match play excitement of the final round.
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