Tiger Woods – Wow

Putt. Tap. Win. New day, same story. Tiger Woods won his 12th major championship yesterday in an easy victory over the rest of the field, winning by 5 shots over second place Shaun Micheel…but really, there was no competition at all. Starting the round at 14-under, tied for first with a Northwestern Alum (yeah baby! NU represent) Luke Donald, Tiger made a birdie on the first while taking the outright lead and didn’t look back after that. On a course that was absolutely punked by the field this weekend (28 players broke par! 28!), Tiger came out on top…again. Mr. Woods is now an astounding 12-0 when he goes into the final round of a major with the lead, a number that has to weigh down like a elephant on the minds of the other golfers…12-0. Sick.

Geoff Ogilvy was quoted as saying “someone is going to beat him one day…It would be more special to win the tournament if he would be leading going into the last round and you beat him. That would be a pretty good feather in your cap.” Well, right now the feather isn’t in the cap…more like in something else…and I don’t think it will see the light any time soon either. The fire within Tiger burns even stronger than before, and this was his way of telling the world “Baby, I’m just getting started.” He is now in second place with regards to Major victories, six behind The Golden Bear. With Jack now in his sights, I am taking predictions on when he will break the record. I am going to be bullish and say he does it in 2011 at the British Open…that gives him four seasons, and given his current form he should win at least two a year, maybe one in an off year, and give himself some time to have a baby Tiger…shouldn’t be a problem…

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Taps

P.S. For those keeping score at home, since I first wrote about Tiger he is 3-0…not bad…

P.P.S. As this is the last major of the year, I don’t think I will be writing about Tiger for a while…however, I hope I have piqued your interest in the sport a little. And for those of you who are wondering about what golf would be like without Tiger, check out this article by Jason Sobel on ESPN…hilarious.

 

Mixed musings 1

With 2 hours and 46 minutes until the beginning of the WWDC, I am getting edgy…and with little on my mind other than WWDC, summer internships, and how long it will be until I am back in the US, instead of writing a blog on a single topic, I thought I might voice some opinion on a variety of different topics. Let me know what you think.

Chinese ”Anger Bar” – Interesting…
According to a BBC article, a man in China has opened up a bar where the clientele is allowed to beat up the staff. At this bar the customers are allowed to “smash glass, rant and even hit specially trained workers” in order to vent their frustrations at anything and everything…work, school, lack of a love life, the fact that the WWDC is still 2 hours and 36 minutes away…customers can basically go off and just hit something.

Now, the sadistic side of me has always wanted to feel what it is like to deck someone. Haven’t you ever heard a guy on a bike coming up from behind you, and something inside you wants to raise your hand and have the guy flip backwards like Jet Li in The One. This could just be the place where you could release these inner urges and frustrations. Now, granted, all of the staff members are fully padded and properly trained, so you aren’t going to hurt him…unless you break a bottle over his head…

Interesting concept. Don’t know how good it is for you though…might cause people to become more violent…try out some stuff on their kid siblings…but interesting concept. I think they have it in the US already though…it is called the Keg of Evanston in the summer…except the people aren’t padded and it is guns instead of bottles…

Tiger Woods: Tiger – 2, Rest of golf – 0
This past weekend Tiger Woods played in the Buick Open, his first tournament since his emotional victory at the British Open. Different tournament, same result. Like the British Open, Tiger went into this round with the lead, and like the British Open (and almost every tournament he goes into the final round of with a lead) Mr. Woods won. With 4 rounds of 66 and a final overall score of -24, Tiger Woods becomes the youngest player to reach 50 tour victories…seems like he has been doing that a lot…youngest to win 10 majors, youngest to win 50 PGA Tour titles, youngest to marry a hot Swedish model with a twin sister…Tiger Woods…man is crazy. Too damn good. And for anyone who is keeping score, I do believe I called it…;-)

Mel Gibson – Bad drunk or Anti-Semite?
I don’t know how much you guys have been following this whole Mel Gibson thing…for those of you who haven’t heard, Mel was caught drunk driving last week and when he was being interrogated he apparently went on an anti-Semitic rant, and used a whole bunch of racial slurs when addressing a Jewish cop. Needless to say, this made the press (thanks to everyone’s favorite gossip website, TMZ.com) and all of a sudden Mel Gibson went from Hollywood hero to a drunk-driving Jew hater.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I have seen quite a few belligerent drunks in my day and needless to say, some pretty heinous stuff comes out of their mouths. Now, while this is not right by any means, people do some stupid stuff when they are drunk (one of the side effects of alcohol…it should go on the bottle…”Will make one act out of character, lose all sense of time, possibly vomit out the most recent meal, and on the whole, do stupid shit”…) and Mel Gibson is no exception. Now, the man was drunk driving, which is what I think should really be what people are focusing on. But this is being overshadowed by the fact that he made Passions of the Christ, what some consider to be an anti-Semitic movie, and now goes off on a drunken tirade against Jews, and so he has been labelled as anti-Jewish. There is even a movement to boycott his movies! I mean come on…so the guy got drunk and said some stuff, big deal. Will that make me stop going to his movies? No. He could have said all sorts of stuff against my country, my beliefs, my school, Apple… and I would STILL go watch his movies, because he is a damn good actor. Braveheart is one of the best movies ever made! For a great actor to be judged by one mistake isn’t right…imagine if we were all judged on the one stupid thing we did…

Fair? I don’t think so…

So, now that I have spent enough time talking to people at work and writing this blog, the time has passed and the WWDC is now about to start. SO PUMPED!

Look for another Apple post real soon.

Cheers,
Taps

Tiger Woods – It is time pt.2

Putt. Tap. Win. With a gentle tap in for par on his 72nd hole at the British Open, Tiger Woods finished with a score of -18, one stroke shy of his Open record of -19, and with his 11th Major won. And yet, this major victory was unlike any other.

Using his driver only once over 72 holes, this Tiger didn’t win based on his overwhelming power and strength. This Tiger won using intelligence and craft, hitting more fairways than any other golfer in the tournament. He won by sticking with his game plan, playing patiently and calmly, allowing the others to try and chase him while he continued chugging on ahead. Once he got the lead, he didn’t look back, the closest anyone getting being one behind. And now when Tiger goes into the final round of a Major tournament with the lead he is a whopping 11-0, making him, in my opinion, the best closer ever, regardless of sport.

The other difference in this victory was evident following the final putt – there was no Earl Woods to share it with. In his first Major win without his father Tiger broke down on his caddie’s shoulder in an outpouring of emotion the world had never witnessed from this man, a man known for his unwavering focus and determination. This was a patient Tiger, sensitive and emotional…human. This was a new Tiger, a Tiger we haven’t seen before.

In pt.1 of this blog I said that if we were lucky, this weekend we would get to witness the Tiger of old, the Tiger who dominated tournaments and overwhelmed the other players. Well, little did I know that we would, in fact, not see the Tiger of old. Instead we had the opportunity to see a new Tiger, a different animal, who, with patience and impeccable skill, went on to win his 11th Major. Different Tiger, same result. And if we are lucky New Tiger will be the same force that Old Tiger was and continue to dominate the sport of golf for years to come.

Would you bet against it?

-Taps

Read pt.1 here >>

Tiger Woods – It is time

The day before the British Open this year, I felt it fitting to write about who I (and the majority of others) consider to be the world’s greatest golfer: Tiger Woods. Tiger last won a Major Championship last year at the British Open, putting his career total at 10. In the year since then, there has been much talk about when Tiger will win his 11th major and continue the rivalry between Tiger (10 major victories) and Jack Nicklaus (18 major victories).

However this year tragedy struck when Tiger’s father and mentor, Earl Woods, lost his battle with cancer. Needless to say, Tiger was devastated and is said to not have played golf for 2 months following his father’s death. Upon his return to professional golf and playing at the US Open, we watched as Tiger missed the cut, his first missed cut in a major tournament.

Watching Tiger miss the cut at Winged Foot (or anywhere else for that matter) is like watching MJ23 play in Game 7 of the NBA conference finals and going 2-15 with 6 points and 1 board and the Bulls not making the finals – whether you hate him or you love him is irrelevant. Plainly and simply, it is bad for the game. It gets rid of the buzz. It makes it boring. You don’t want it to happen.

Now, some people would rather watch grass grow than watch golf. It is dull, the commentary sucks, and, for the most part, it is played by old, fat white men. For golf without Tiger, I would agree. I wouldn’t watch golf without Tiger if you paid me. That all changes when you throw Tiger into the mix. No matter who you are, if you have the resources to be reading this blog, then you have heard of Tiger Woods. He has revolutionized the sport - he has made it cool. Now golf is being played by both young and old alike, for business and for pleasure. There is no question that Tiger and his great achievements at such a young age has caused an immense increase in interest in the sport, and I can say that I am one of those who started playing because Tiger played. I wanted to dress like Tiger, swing like Tiger, make millions like Tiger.

It was his great achievements that sparked the interest of today’s youth. There was a time when if Tiger was playing in a tournament, no matter what, he would be the favorite. Now people question Tiger. They question his ability, his skill, his drive to win. Evidenced by his US Open performance, he is not the Tiger we once knew (granted, extenuating circumstances had a lot to do with that). However, after a stellar performance at the Western Open, Tiger looks like he is ready – ready to resume his post as the world’s greatest golfer, the undeniable champion, and the man on his way to breaking the record for most Major victories ever.

So I implore you, golf lovers and haters alike, to take some time off this weekend, flip to TNT, and catch some of the British Open. If we are lucky, Tiger will be the Tiger of old. If so, you can be sure that he will put on a show for the ages and golf’s greatest rivalry, Jack vs. Tiger, will continue once again.

- Taps