Rub of the Green ...
cuf,
<< I've watched Tiger's chip on 16 about a dozen times. >>
You and me both, and that chip will be replayed into golfing eternity.
<< It was either the luckiest shot ever hit, or the most brilliant pressure shot ever put on golfball >>
Great Golfers make their own luck, but what a shot.
Why did I think he was going to hole it? Why did I tell Sheila, who was rooting for Chris, that he would hole it?
I dunno.
Why did I know he would hole out the 15 footer to win the playoff?
I dunno.
Maybe because I followed him around Wollaston (MA) CC for 4 days back in 1992 and watched him win his 2nd PGA Junior Amateur there, as a guest of my friend "Sully," a member there, who made me layover from a business trip to watch him.
Maybe because I followed him around Newport (RI) CC with Sully back in 1995 and watched him beat our local Mercedes dealer Buddy Marucci for his 2nd PGA Amateur there.
Maybe because he absolutely destroyed Augusta National in 1997 after a shaky start and knows the nuances of that venue better than any golfer playing today.
The luckiest shot I've ever seen and one that still leaves me speechless when I watch the tape -- which I do at least once a year -- was when Costantino Rocca holed his 70-foot putt from St. Andrews' "Valley of Sin," short of 18th green at the 95 British Open, and the best end to end performance on that venerable tract I've ever seen was Daly's win that year.
Tiger's chip on Augusta National's 16 has to rank in the top 10 (important) great golf shots of all time, but the majors have produced many, and particularly the Masters and the British Open.
What sets Tiger's shot apart, drama wise, was that almost 2 second hang on the lip of the cup, but also the videography tracking the ball to the cup from the top of the ridge.
If it hadn't dropped, it might have been the unluckiest great shot ever played in golf.
Yesterday's golf was grand entertainment, was it not?
Here's what's scary. Bobby and Jack were exceptions, but many of the great golfers we've known, watched, or heard about, didn't really get it together until they were in their thirties, and here's Tiger, at 29, after 12 major wins and 140+ consecutive cuts, rebuilding his swing again so he can hit a few fairways occasionally. I mean it's scary he can miss that many fairways and win. Imagine when he hits em more consistently.
- ce - |
