It is day two of the Ryder Cup Matches between Team USA and Europe. Contested just outside Paris, the Ryder Cup is a set of biennial matches with teams of 12 competing as two-man teams and individuals. On Friday the festivities began with four alternate shot matches in the morning session followed by four better ball matches in the afternoon. On Saturday the process will repeat itself and then on Sunday each golfer will play a singles match against his counterpart.
Thus far eight points have been determined. There are eight more points up for grabs Saturday followed by the 12 individual matches on Sunday. With 28 points on the table, the winning team needs to accumulate 14 ½ to secure the cup. In the event of a 14-14 tie, the American team will keep Samuel Ryder’s little gold cup because Team USA is the defending champion, having taken home the cup at Hazeltine in Minneapolis in September of 2016.
Without a doubt, the Ryder Cup is golf at its most dramatic. Not only is it about the 24 best golfers in the world showing their talents and abilities, but it is also about nationalistic pride. It’s one thing to win or lose a tournament. It’s another thing to play golf for your partner, your team, and your country. There is no arguing that the pressure of winning a golf tournament, especially one of the game’s major championships, is a lesson in handling intense pressure. The Ryder Cup is a different type of pressure because of the team and national aspect of the competition. Great golfers have excelled under the bright lights and yet there is a history of some very talented linksters crumbling under the glare of Ryder Cup pressure.
Speaking of handling pressure and coming through in the clutch, last weekend’s Tour Championship had all of that and more. I never thought I would ever say these words, but 42-year-old Tiger Woods played like the Tiger of 2000 as he captured the Tour Championship at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta. It was Woods’ first victory in five years and two months and it was an iconic moment in the 157 year history of professional golf.
Woods has been dominant figure on golf’s center stage since his adolescent years. A winner of three consecutive United States Juniors, three consecutive U.S. Amateurs and an NCAA Championship, Woods turned professional in September of 1996 and within the remaining three months of the PGA Tour season, Tiger had won two events and qualified into his first Tour Championship as a top-30 money winner. In April of 1997 he captured the Masters in record-breaking fashion and ever since then he has moved the needle in the world of professional golf. At the conclusion of the 2013 season when he won five times on tour, Tiger had accumulated 79 victories, just three shy of career leader Sam Snead, and had won 14 majors, putting him four behind the high-water mark set by Jack Nicklaus.
Yet a run of tabloid scandals, a messy divorce, knee injuries and multiple back surgeries have impacted the status of the Great Striped One. Following his fourth back surgery last year, Woods had a difficult moment during Memorial Day weekend of 2017 when Florida police found him asleep at the wheel of his car. His vehicle had massive damage, Woods was found to be under the influence of multiple pharmaceuticals, and he was in such a fog that he actually told law enforcement that he was in California. At that moment Tiger was close to being through as a professional golfer of note.
Since that Memorial Day weekend of 2017, Tiger has gotten healthy and has shown flashes of brilliance as he attempts to return to the player he once was. Ranked 1,199 in the world last November, he now sits in 13th place. He finished second on the yearlong Fed Ex Cup points list. He had a top-six finish at the British Open and came in second at the PGA Championship. He now has 80 wins on tour, two behind Snead, and the talk is back about him winning more majors while edging closer to Jack Nicklaus and that magic number of 18 grand slam titles.
It’s great to see Woods healthy and competitive. However, he turns 43 in December and one very basic fact remains. Only two men in the history of golf have won three majors since turning age 40. Ben Hogan won three majors in 1953 as a 40-year-old. He also played a very limited schedule as he never fully recovered from the Greyhound bus crash that almost killed him in 1949. Jack Nicklaus won the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship at age 40 in 1980 and then had an enlightened moment as a 46-year-old when he won the 1986 Masters. Julius Boros won the U.S. Open as a 43-year-old and the PGA as a 48-year-old. Tom Watson lost in a playoff at the British Open to Stewart Cink as a 59-year-old. In other words, thus far no one has ever been a strong contender at the game’s four majors into his 40s. Regardless of the longevity of golfers, Father Time continues to win when it comes to the aging process. Time is running out on Woods’ quest to tie and surpass Nicklaus’ major total. He only gets four chances each year and the proverbial clock is ticking.
Last week had its magical moments nonetheless. Tiger was first in scrambling at the Tour Championship, second in putting while averaging 28 putts per round (that’s eight one-putts each day), and was an amazing third in driving accuracy. Last Sunday he was the Tiger of old, not Old Tiger. He still has his enormous fan base as evidenced not only by the crowd reaction on the 18th hole last Sunday in Atlanta, but also by the fact that the PGA Tour had higher ratings than NFL football on Sunday afternoon. Sure it was a no-cut limited field event, but it was great golf as Woods held off a who’s who of modern golf, including Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose to win. It will be interesting to see how long he can sustain his newfound second career.
County Amateur
Locally, the 35th annual Lake County Amateur Golf Championship tees off Oct. 6 and concludes Oct. 7 at Adams Springs Golf Course on Cobb Mountain. The Amateur is the county’s longest-running tournament of note and another strong field is expected. Entry information can be attained by contacting the Adams Springs Golf Course pro shop at 928-9992 or by calling this columnist at 245-5047.
While the Lake County Amateur identifies the top scratch golfer in our region, there are also flights for net golfers with handicaps of 10 and above, senior golfers age 50 and above, and senior net golfers. The deadline to enter is Tuesday.
