Ladies and gentlemen...Tiger Woods!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I really wanted to write some witty blog about the greatness of Tiger Woods, but I can't. I can't find the words. What he is doing is the greatest thing I have ever seen or read about in the history of sports and I simply do not have the vocabulary to capture it in words. He is the greatest 'clutch' performer in the history of sports - maybe in history, period. There are lots of people that have done it for a game, or a series, or even a season, but he has performed at that level for so long it is mind-blowing.

I've been trying since yesterday to think of anyone, in any activity, at any point in history, that is even close - and I can't. And the more I dig into his accomplishments, the more amazing it becomes. From ages 12-15 he won four consecutive Junior World Championships (all he entered). From ages 15-17 he won three consecutive U.S. Junior Amateur titles (all he entered). From ages 18-20 he won three consecutive U.S. Amateur titles (all he entered). [That made it SIX consecutive USGA National amatuer titles.] At age twenty he won the NCAA individual championship. Then he turned pro and has won 14 of the 46 majors he has entered - all of them having had the lead going into the final round. At the age of 32 he has been performing at the highest level possible for TWENTY years. Years. Not games. TWENTY YEARS. Inconceivable.

Great athletes raise the bar - give everyone a new target in which to aim. In the world of golf, the bar is gone. Tiger has it, it's in his trophy case, and it doesn't look like he intends to give it back.