So Tiger Woods lost the PGA Championship today after holding a 54-hole lead and a 14-0 record when starting Sunday in the lead of a major.
But my question is this... Did Tiger choke or did Y.E. Yang just outplay him?
I had no doubt Tiger would run away and hide today; there was no way he would lose a major on Sunday with a 2 stroke head start. Tiger losing today could mean only one thing... The biggest chokejob of his career. And coming from arguably the best of all time, that aint happenin'...
The circumstances of the day set up perfectly for another storybook finish. Tiger struggled all day long with the putter, and even allowed Yang to sneak up on him and (gasp!) pass him!!!
But before you think this is an open and shut case, think about this. Tiger was 2 over on the day and trailed Yang by one stroke heading to the 18th tee. He still had a chance to put major pressure on Yang by smokin' a drive down the fairway, which he did.
What happened next was pretty cool.
Instead of laying up safely on the green with his second shot, Yang, who knew Tiger had to shoot for the flag, took his fate into his own hands and took aim himself. As soon as he stuck his shot within feet of the hole Tiger was toast and I was on my way out the door.
So although Tiger did lose his lead throughout the day in very un-Tigeresque fashion, he had a chance at the end and for the first time had a seemingly inevitable victory snatched from him.
My opinion is that someone finally stood up in the face of the immense pressure of Tiger, and beat him at his own game...
What do you think???
He choked. So what. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He's still the best golfer in the world, and he could go out and win two or three majors next year.
ReplyDeleteIt's no big deal to me. I didn't expect it at all, but I think it's a good thing for Tiger. A couple years ago he had a rough year and then tore it up the next two years.
I would be surprised if he dominates the majors next year.