Tiger Time

This time, I'm going to talk about golf.

I've been watching golf for maybe 20 years or more. It's an easy enough sport to watch for a novice. I certainly don't know all the rules, or which clubs to use when, but the scoring system is pretty simple.

In case you don't follow golf, there are 18 holes, numbered 1 through 18. Each hole has a recommended number of shots a good player would be expected to sink the ball. These are always between 3 and 5 shots, and it's usually based on distance from the tee (where you start) to the hole. Thus, a par 5 means a good player would take 5 shots to get the ball in the hole.

If you make the recommended shots, you make par. Thus, on a par 5, you would need to get the ball in the hole in 5 shots. If you make it in one fewer shot (say, 4 shots on a par 4), that's called a birdie. If you do it in two fewer shots, that's called an eagle. If you do it in three fewer shots, it's called a double eagle. There's not a triple eagle because the distance is prohibitive. Typically, eagles occur on par 5's. You can also make a hole in one, but that score is based on the par. Mostly, they occur on par 3's, so a hole in one is an eagle on a par 3.

If you make one over par, that's a bogey. Two shots over par is a double bogey. Three shots over par is a triple bogey. And people make worse bogeys than that.

If you sum all the par shots over 18 holes, there's usually between 70 to 72 shots. This year, the US Open is par 71 over the entire course.

You start your own score at even. A bogey adds 1 to your score. A birdie subtracts one from your score. An eagle subtracts two from your scores. You want as low a negative score as possible. Weekend players usually complete a course in 100 or more shots. Good weekend players score 90. Great weekend players score 80. For example, Justin Timberlake, amazingly, is a great golfer and can apparently score in the 80s.

For a golf tournament, the score accumulates over four days. Thus, if you end the day at +2 (meaning two shots over par for the entire course), you start the next day at +2.

After the second day, there is a cut. About half the players are eliminated. For a while, Tiger had some amazing number of consecutive cuts made. Michelle Wie has yet to make a cut in a men's professional golf tournament.

So let's get to Tiger Woods. Tiger is acknowledged as the best golf player in the world. In this year's US Open, he's had three great days. Which is to say, he's had three poor starts and three great finishes. For three consecutive days, he's had double bogey on the first hole. Realize that Tiger can play entire tournaments without ever hitting a double bogey.

He entered the finals with a one shot lead, but that double bogey meant he was behind one shot. By the 11th shot, he hit a birdie, and was at -2, which put him in the lead. Tiger has this rather amazing record of winning every major tournament (there are four majors in golf, just as there are in tennis) that he's held the lead going into the fourth day (and similarly, he's lost every time he hasn't had a lead going in the final day).

But Tiger bogeyed 13 and 15, to go even par. Rocco Mediate, who had a lead or a share of the lead, was ahead of Tiger and finished at -1. Tiger was left to the 18th hole to get a birdie. The last hole was a par 5. He hit a shot in the bunker, but then got a decent second shot. That lead to a third shot that landed about 12 feet from the hole. His playing partner, Lee Westwood, also hit to about 12 feet, but his angle was worse. The putting green has undulations, and you have to "read" the greens to predict which way the golf ball will roll, whether it breaks left or right, whether the speed is quick or not.

Tiger fell back early on Saturday, but had a great birdie, plus two eagles, and an eagle on the 18th, to get the lead by a shot. He had put himself in a bad spot, and hit some great shots to get out of the mess. It was so miraculous that people were gushing how good he played. And yet, everyone knew that Tiger's knee was hurting, and it was affecting his play. The pattern on Friday and Saturday was to fall back in the first 9 holes, then to play really well on the second 9 holes to recover from problems in first 9 (there are also called the front 9 and back 9 respectively).

After Westwood left his shot short, he knew that either Tiger or Rocco would win, and he'd come in 3rd (as there would be a playoff to decide first and second).

Although Tiger had sunk a shot from 30 feet or more to get an eagle, a 12 foot shot is no gimme. Westwood had missed a similar shot.

When Tiger hit the shot, it honestly look like it would be short, but it kept rolling and rolling, and then barely made the hole, almost lipping out (to lip out is to hit the ball on the edge of the hole but it rolls out instead of in the hole). The crowd cheered because Tiger just made a very difficult shot at the toughest moment.

Still, over 3 days, he's had a tough start, only to recover at the end. Rocco has been incredibly steady over the last 3 days. Rocco had the better score on the first and last day (that is, the score if you ignore the other days), and Tiger had the better score on the second and third day.

Most people buckle under the pressure of playing Tiger head-to-head. Even so, Westwood played as well as Tiger the whole fourth day, rather than crumple as many of his playing partners have done (usually, they pair two players per hole, and stagger the starts).

It was an amazing shot, and I was glad I managed to make it back to see it on TV.