Equilibrium
© Bill Howard
The past two weeks have changed all that. With two consecutive wins, Tiger has restored the PGA Tour to a state of equilibrium. Those of us who doubted his dominion over the professional golf landscape have been slapped back into line. By running the table at bay Hill and Sawgrass, he has reminded even the most skeptical among us that he is a player without peer.
I fear the remainder of the Tour schedule may be more of the same. I personally enjoyed the "fujo period". A few promising young players came to light and a handful of old favorites played solidly. Heck, Jesper won, and that's always a good thing. This year's Tour fleetingly promised to be a wide open affair.
The door has been emphatically slammed shut on all that. Tiger is the center of the universe once again. The PGA Tour fitness trailer will see an endless stream of neck injuries. This is the inevitable result of all the other players looking over their shoulders for Tiger.
Mr. Woods stands alone as the public favorite to win the Masters. Worse yet, those trying to topple him from his lofty perch feel the same way. All is as it was precisely a year ago. In fact, i feel as though I've written this column before. That's reason enough to stop.
Before I go I feel compelled to point out that this remarkable restoration of the status quo nearly didn't happen. The delicate equilibrium of the golf universe hung in the balance as Tiger's tee shot danced in the fringe on #17 last Monday morning. We were a couple of blades of grass away from the resumption of "Tiger is an equal"thinking among the other players. Had his ball danced into the abyss, the free for all would have commenced on the spot. The Masters would have teed off on a level mental playing field. Talk about drama.
While golf is the most fickle of all games, the Masters now belongs to Tiger. They'll play it anyway, but I don't think that it's really necessary.
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