A Good Mechanic

Like Sinickal, I am a huge fan of the Masters. I have been trying all week to think of a unique angle to discuss and describe this year's tournament, which was much more difficult than I thought given the relatively boring final round. (Watching a boring round at the Masters is still a great way to spend a day!) Now, Trevor Immelman brought that upon himself by shooting a scintillating 3 over par 75 to run away with this year's Masters. OK, that wasn't exactly fair. He did shoot 68, 68, 69 in the first three rounds to run away from the tournament. Even though Tiger finished only 3 shots back, he never actually challenged Immelman. In fact nobody did. No disrespect to Immelman, as he certainly earned his victory, but he was not the story of the weekend.

The story, which most people missed, was Miguel Angel Jimenez. Jimenez, the 20 year veteran from Spain, was one of only three golfers to shoot under par during the final round of the Masters, with a 68. (Nick Watney shot a 71 and Heath Slocum shot a 69). His 4 under par 68 moved Jimenez from a tie for 35th after round 3 all the way into a tie for 8th. Why is this remarkable? Because he was the absolute last player to make the cut after Friday's second round. Since 45 players made the cut, Jimenez played with a marker on Saturday. AND FINISHED 8th!!!

Jimenez made the type of charge that the public was looking for from Woods, Mickelson, or for crying out loud, anybody. Unfortunately, Jimenez was so far back after a first round 5 over par 77, that he was never able to make the top of the leader board. Nevertheless, Jimenez was outstanding on Sunday, and he deserves much credit for his truly amazing round.


Immelman won the Masters, in a convincing manner. He will forever be introduced as a Masters Champion. He will be remembered in the annals of golf as a Masters Champion. However, Jimenez, toiling in relative obscurity, turned in the weekend of the tourney.

He's Even Money in Vegas...You Have to Talk About Him

Like most everyone else that doesn't think a Red Sox - Yankees series in April is huge news, I have been watching every second of the Masters....on four different channels (God, I love DirecTV). As usual, I am fascinated by the tournament, the course, the weather, the coverage. You name it, and I am into it like women in thong bikini's - or bikini waxed greens. Whatever, I love this month! The Final Four, the Masters, the NFL Draft, the start of the NBA Playoffs, and there is even this sport called Hockey has its playoffs going on.

Anyway, I am driving to get coffee this morning and I am listening to a local sports radio station when I hear the following:

Tiger Woods is only 7 strokes back. Being in red numbers is very significant here. I expect Tiger to have a share of the lead at a minimum today, and to win this tournament tomorrow. I just don't see anyone on the leaderboard that can hold him off

You know what? I didn't even flinch. And this scares me.

Are you aware that Tiger Woods is a losing proposition bet in Las Vegas this week? You have to give away money to bet him against 83 other people playing at Augusta. This is unheard of. Nobody is this dominant at anything! Sports, business, politics, name it.

It is absurd to think that someone will make up 7 strokes and overcome 12 other professional golfers in a tournament where the leader is only 8 strokes under par, and yet we do. Not only do we expect Tiger to make up the strokes, we will be more surprised if he doesn't!

I am not prepared to call Tiger the greatest athlete we have seen, but I am impressed by the separation between him and the next group of golfers chasing him. He never misses cuts, he always finishes in the top 5, and if people think he is in play collapses are inevitable. It's staggering.

There have been very few athletes that have had this kind of run in sports...Babe Ruth was out homering entire teams back in the late 1920's. Mike Tyson was awe inspiring when he ruled the heavyweight division in the 1980's. There have been several track and field athletes that have dominated the landscape like Renaldo Nehemiah and Edwin Moses. But even with that, I don't think that we have a precedent for Tiger Woods.

Enjoy Sunday at the Masters. I don't believe that Tiger can win from 5 or more strokes back, but never rule out what EVERYONE expects to happen. And what everyone is betting will happen.