Golf needs a new No. 2
Blog entry: June 17, 2008, 11:29 am | Author: JOEL HAMMOND
As you know by now, Tiger Woods, the second-most powerful celebrity in the world, according to Forbes, won his 14th career major on Monday, and did it in dramatic fashion.
On a bum knee, he made two eagles and chipped in for birdie over the final six holes on Saturday, rallied on Sunday for a birdie on the 72nd hole to force a playoff, birdied 18 again Monday to force sudden death and made par on the 91st hole to beat a game Rocco Mediate.
(If Crain’s publisher Brian Tucker is reading this, I did NOT watch the final three holes at my desk. Honest.)
Woods, now four majors behind Jack Nicklaus’ 18, said this win was “probably the best ever,” though some have and will argue his historic, 12-shot win at the 1997 Masters and his 15-shot victory in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach in 2000.
Having said all that, I think we’re all doing a major disservice to Tiger Woods. Why? Because everyone is constantly comparing him to Phil Mickelson, which is kind of like comparing a Ferrari to a Ford Focus. (Sorry, Detroit.)
Yes, this blog was born out of frustration that Mickelson, my golfer this week in a little competition done by Some Guys I Know, gaffed his way to a tie for 18th, at 6 over. However, that frustration got me thinking: Why is Mickelson golf’s Golden Boy? Why is Rick Reilly encouraging ESPN.com readers to cheer for Mickelson, and not Woods?
Truthfully, I know why:
Every dominant player in sports needs a rival, and Mickelson, as the No. 2 player in the world, is the closest thing to one for Woods.
He’s affable. His wife is pretty. He’s got cute kids. He smiles.
When he messes up, he says things like, “I can’t believe I did that; I am such an idiot,” like he did after he sliced away the 2006 U.S. Open with a series of poor decisions.
But that doesn’t make the dumbing-down of Woods’ greatness any more sensible.
The rivalry is the main thing at play here: With someone as great as Tiger, folks are longing for someone, anyone, to challenge him. But it’s becoming more evident by the tournament that Woods, simply, has no equal.
And it’s cheapening his dominance by the continued exultation of Mickelson as the Second Best Thing.
Remember that 2006 Open? Mickelson, leading a by a stroke, hit driver off the tee — after hitting only two of 13 fairways in his round — and hit the top of a hospitality tent, landing in trampled grass left of the fairway (and rough, for that matter).
He went for the green with his second shot, hit a tree, then plugged his third in a greenside bunker. He made double bogey, when even a bogey would have put him in a playoff with eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy.
Yes, idiotic.
How about this week? Mickelson, who grew up in San Diego and with Torrey Pines as something of a home course, quadruple-bogeyed the par-5 13th on his way to a third-round 76, taking him out of contention. That quadruple bogey came on the 13th — the same hole where an eagle kickstarted Woods’ charge on Saturday — where Mickelson chipped twice back to his feet from in front of the green.
Not championship-caliber in the least.
Mickelson has gotten a reprieve from his soft rep after winning three majors, including two Masters.
But it’s time to revisit him as Tiger Woods’ Adversary, because there is no one worthy of that title — especially not Mickelson.
|
Printer Friendly
E-mail to a Friend