You’re away, Mr. Hogan. You need two shots a side, Mr. Nicklaus. You need more than an army, Arnie.
Gentlemen, your legendary golf games have officially been outmoded. At your greatest, using today’s most advanced equipment, you wouldn’t have had a shot in this U.S. Open against this 24-year-old. Eldrick “Tiger” Woods just played the best golf any human has ever played.
While the world’s best players found Pebble Beach nearly as tough as Omaha Beach, Woods had the preposterous equivalent of a day at the beach. Nobody runs away with the world’s most difficult tournament. Too much trouble, pressure, competition. The largest margin of Open victory in the modern era was Tony Jacklin’s seven-stroke win in 1970.
Woods won by 15 with Sunday’s bogeyless 67.
Woods is proving to have this in common with Michael Jordan: He is a supremely talented overachiever. In three years he has rebuilt the most perfect swing this side of a computer image –a robo-swing without a quirk. Ben Hogan swung so flat he looked more like DiMaggio. Jack Nicklaus had the flying right elbow. Arnold Palmer was all arms and heart.
Woods has outworked almost every rival, on the practice tee and in the gym. He took one of the tour’s most athletic frames, added 20 pounds of fast-twitch muscle by bench-pressing more than 300 pounds, and plugged this explosive package into swing mechanics he could teach at his alma mater, Stanford.
He turned himself into golf’s best driver, shot-maker and putter. He is learning to manage his course strategy, his distance control with shorter irons, his Tiger-slaying temper and go-for-broke ego. At Pebble Beach, a course he began playing at age 13, all of this came together like one giant wave crashing against the field.
Behold, Tiger. Behold unfair. Behold a Todd Marinovich experiment gone right. Marinovich was another Southern Californian pushed to play a sport, football. Like Marinovich’s father, Earl Woods kept telling the world his son would be the greatest ever.
But while robo-quarterback Marinovich burned out on the paternal pressure, Woods cherished it. While Marinovich began to run with the wrong crowd, Woods has further deflated rivals by avoiding the usual off-course pitfalls of 20-something fame. Happy Father’s Day, Earl. You were right.
Listen to Nick Price genuflect: “We all felt someone was going to come along who could drive the ball 300 yards and putt like [Ben] Crenshaw. This guy drives the ball better than anyone I’ve ever seen and putts better than Crenshaw.
“I feel sorry for the young guys. Basically I’ve had my day [at 43]. I think it’s going to be very hard to beat him when he’s on his game.”
Especially for content country-club products with weenie streaks such as Davis Love, Phil Mickelson and David Duval. They’re making enough money from endorsement deals. They don’t want to grind as hard as Woods does. They don’t have Woods’ killer instinct or against-the-grain nature.
Without apology Woods skipped Wednesday’s Payne Stewart tribute because he came here to win a U.S. Open. He blew off Sunday’s pre-round interview request from NBC– Roger Maltbie looked peeved– because he’s bigger than the network and didn’t want to be distracted. Unlike Saturday, Woods did mind his language on the course, letting loose only with one “Jesus!”
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But after all, father Earl predicted in 1997 that Woods would be Messiah-like.
For the first time Sunday, Woods’ competitors paid tribute to him with unclinched teeth. Now they’re completely convinced they’re playing for second. For now Woods has only one rival, himself.
And for now, amazingly, televised golf’s popularity will continue to grow. The compelling question won’t be whether Woods will beat Duval or Mickelson, but by how many. He has enough fist-throwing, cursing charisma to fill a leaderboard by himself. Sunday’s 18-hole victory parade held your attention because you wanted to see if he’d break the record for victory margin in any major.
He did, despite leaving four birdie putts on the lip. He also putted brilliantly when he announced his arrival by running away with the ’97 Masters. But then, Augusta had no rough. Then, the kid threw all 100-m.p.h. fastballs and got away with it. Now he knows how to pitch.
Now it’s official: The hype has been validated. Tiger Woods is the most dominant golfer ever.