Ackerstein:?
Tiger Woods is the best golfer in the world. This year’s
Masters should be a reminder of that fact.
Though he might not have won a green jacket since 2005,
he does have four Masters titles to his name already — about as good a track
record as there is at Augusta National. Even though he got off to a slow start in last year’s
tournament Woods was still able to earn a second place finish, just two strokes
behind the winner Zach Johnson.
What makes the world’s No. 1 such a lock to take it home
this year though, is his play entering the tournament.
Woods is as hot as ever right now, winning three of his
first four tournaments in 2008, picking up right where he left off at the end
of last year when he won four of his last five events. Not since Johnny Drama
landed not one, but two pilots in ’07, has someone started off a year as hot as
Woods has.
Playing arguably the best golf of his career, Woods very
possibly might take home a Grand Slam this year. He appears as motivated and
confident as ever, and it’s going to take four rounds of absolutely perfect
golf from one of his challengers to even have a shot at taking him down.
As if that weren’t enough, it should be noted that no
player has ever lost a major in the same year Gatorade gave him his own drink,
so Woods will, you know, also have that going for him.
He’s playing his best golf, and he’ll be sure to have
plenty of G2 to restore those lost electrolytes. Good luck, rest of the field.
?
Tiger for the Masters win. Amen (Corner) to that!
Mason:
It’d be easy to pick Tiger to win it all this weekend at
Augusta. After all, he’s won there four times before; what’s to stop him from
winning his fifth green jacket?
The field, that’s what.
While the Masters has just 90 players in the field — the
least of the four major championships — it’s always a great crop of golfers
competing in one of golf’s most prestigious tournaments. Guys like Phil “Lefty”
Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Zach Johnson are always threatening to
rob Tiger of the top spot on the leaderboard.
Wait — you’ve never heard of Zach Johnson? Neither had most
of the world, until the 32-year-old from Iowa was the surprise story of the
tourney last year, claiming stake to the 2007 Masters. It just goes to show
that on any given weekend, anything is capable on the golf course. (On a side
note, his +1 was the first time the winner had finished over par since Jack
Burke Jr. in 1956. See? You learn something new every day.)
We need to keep in mind that Tiger is not invincible. Since
2001, Eldrick has entered 130 tournaments. How many has we won? “Only” 41. I
mean come on, that’s only 31.5 percent. If I performed that low on my midterms,
I’d be kicked out of school.
In all seriousness, though, you can never count out the
field in any tournament. Just look at the winners of the last three U.S. Opens:
Angel Cabrera, Geoff Ogilvy and Michael Campbell.
March Madness may now be officially over — given that Kansas
just won the championship and the calendar now reads April — but that doesn’t
mean there can’t be any more Cinderellas in sports.
?
Tiger against the field? Take the field. Can somebody say
Carl Spackler?
