Tiger vs. Phil This Week
Both Tiger and Phil are playing Jack’s tournament, The Memorial this week in Ohio, and it’s a good place to see how ready or not, Phil and Tiger are as they head into the final weeks before the U.S. Open. There’s no doubt that Tiger really likes this tournament, simply because of the ties to Nicklaus, and he wants everything that has anything to do with Nicklaus.
However, does that mean he’s ready to tackle Jack’s course this year? Not unless Woods found some magic on the range in the last couple of weeks. I’ve said before that Woods at 90% is better than most of the field at 100%, but of course that doesn’t include the likes of Mickelson, Singh, Furyk, et al. And Mickelson is riding pretty high right now because his game seems to be firing on more cylinders than Tiger’s.
But this tournament seems to bring out the best of the underdogs and journeyman golfers. Remember when Roger Maltbie (NBC announcer now) won way back in 1976? He was as surprised as Nicklaus that he won, and was never a real contender during his years on the PGA Tour. And Jack has brought back the furrowed bunkers again this year; much to the dismay of the tour players. And I think it’s great. Give ‘em something else to whine about when they can’t get up and down from a hazard.