Has Tiger’s Aura Faded to Black?
Well, Tiger is 0-fer when he enters the final round of a major, trailing the leader. For all the great shots he hit yesterday, the opposite happened today, and he looked dazed and confused. Even more frustrating for Woods I’m sure is that this tournament was there for the taking; all he had to do was shoot even par.
I have a theory: Tiger seems to be motivated not only by the challenge of winning majors, but by the attention and adulation the top-5 (whomever they happen to be) gets when they are winning majors. Last year, Mickelson was the media darling heading into the U.S. Open because he had won the Masters, and everyone was pulling for him to pull off the “Mickel-Slam”. Tiger didn’t even make the cut at last year’s U.S. Open because his Father had died a few weeks earlier, and I have to believe that he might have felt Phil was ready to make a serious run at Tiger’s throne.
So what happened next? Tiger won the following two majors: the British Open, and the PGA Championship. This week, Mickelson didn’t make the cut and the rest of the top-5 were nowhere in sight, and Tiger couldn’t close the deal when it mattered.
Now there is no real favorite heading into the final two majors and Woods may go 0-fer when it comes to majors this year if he doesn’t come up with something to motivate him.
Oh yeah, kudos to Angel Cabrera for playing an excellent round of golf today and winning the U.S. Open.