Think about this: Ernie Els, a nice player that he is, has not won a major since the 1997 U.S. Open. But has anyone labelled that futility as a slump?
The standards for excellence in golf have been raised to a ridiculous height by Woods, who has won 22 times in the last two and a half years. So perhaps he only has himself to blame when a five-win season with a major is considered mediocre. Suddenly, winning one major a year is no longer good enough.
On the other hand, golf is the most fickle and humbling of all sports. Those who play it and other weekend hackers can relate to that so easily. The game comes and goes, and it happens to the best of 'em, even to Woods.
So sit back and relax a bit if you ever thought Woods was in a slump this summer. The guy is still the No. 1 player in the world by such a wide margin that it would take nothing short of a miracle by the No. 2 Phil Mickelson (say, a couple of majors next year) to overtake him--provided Tiger sits out next year, that is.
And don't be fooled when Mickelson says he is still in the hunt for the PGA Tour Player of the Year honour. The lefty has two wins in relatively small tourneys and eleven other top-10 finishes, including two at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. But he did not win a major this year --and has not won one so far in his career, but let's not go there.
Woods, on the other hand, won five events, all of which boasted strong fields on challenging courses, and leads the Tour's money list. And he captured the Masters, which was his fourth consecutive victory at major championships.
Thus, the race for the award is non existent. Mickelson can win the rest of big events, such as the World Golf Championships-American Express Championship, Invensys Classic at Las Vegas, National Car Rental Golf Classic/Disney and the Tour Championship, and still will not beat Woods to Player of the Year.
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