Tiger is the MAN!

As I write this, Tiger is leading the Deutsche Bank Championship by one – after just the first day.  If he wins on Monday, it will be his 5th win IN A ROW.  For those of you who golf, you understand just how amazing this is.  For those who don’t let me explain.

Individual sports like golf or tennis or cycling – generally have trouble attracting a wide VIEWING audience, because it is hard to root for one individual.  Until a real standout player shows up (an Agassi, a Sampras, an Armstrong, or a Woods), you are left watching different people win all the time.  This is especially true on the PGA tour, where you see different people win all the time.  Given how deep the field is, a PGA player who wins once in a single year will consider that a great year for them.  Twice would very often be considered a CAREER year.

Now consider that if Tiger Woods ONLY won twice in a year – even if those wins were major championships (the Masters, US Open, British Open, or PGA Championship) – he would consider it a poor year.  If neither of those wins were majors, he would consider it an abysmal year.

In 2000, he won a LOT.  He won 3 of 4 majors (and won the 2001 Masters to hold all 4 titles at once – something that had never been done), 9 wins total, 4 seconds, and a total of SEVENTEEN top 10 finishes.  It is not even possible to describe how good a year that is.  Between the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000, he won 7 times in a row.  NEVER did I think that would be duplicated.  And here he is on the verge of winning his 5th, with several more official money tounaments to play this year.  And the Ryder Cup.

I love it.  Being able to witness history is always fun – but this is really something special.  Prediction:  as impossible as it originally sounded when he said it was his goal, I think he will indeed hold the records for most wins in each of the four majors, and – of course – most wins lifetime.

UPDATE:  He won the Deutschebank, and everyone is now talking about how he can beat Nelson’s record.  Stay tuned.