Woods wins again and takes the Tiger Slam
IN: News | US PGA | US Masters (2001) | Wrap | by Bruce Young | 09 Apr 2001
Once again Masters Sunday did not let us down. The classic battle between three of the great players in the modern game took centre stage and even though Mark Calcavecchia joined the battle briefly early in the round with a birdie at the first to a bogey by Woods it was left to a final six hole dogfight between Woods, Duval and Mickelson to sort out the Champion.
Clearly there were many shots throughout the day by all players that factored into the final result but for mine there were three shots in the middle of the round that kept the momentum going for Woods that made the crucial final difference. His third shot at the par five eighth from downhill lie and fluffy grass was as good as it gets. From just forty five yards and a shot that required the touch of a surgeon he managed to get it within eight feet and made it for a birdie. Then at nine after miscalculating the strength of his 105 yard approach he was able to get it up and down from in front of the green for a par and again at ten he made a very difficult two putt from the back left after a bad first putt holing from nine feet for his par. They were the type of shots that could have gone either way and the momentum that was maintained proved crucial over the closing holes.
Duval had several missed chances late in his round more especially the par putt on sixteen after a magnificent chip from behind the green and the two birdie putts from ten and five feet consecutively on seventeen and eighteen but in the end all the ifs and buts don't count for much when they are putting on the green jacket. Mickelson too had his chances staying very much in touch with Tiger especially after Tiger's opening bogey saw them tied in the lead with Calcavecchia but a bogey at eleven to Tiger's birdie opened the gap to three and although Mickelson stuck to his task in the end it was too great.
Calcavecchia who opened the tournament on Thursday with a double bogey continued his impressive run of finishes at Augusta, this being his ninth top twenty in fourteen starts, by finishing in a tie for fourth with the Japanese player Toshi Izawa who has recorded his second top in just a few starts on the US Tour. Izawa was one of the six involved in a playoff for Allenby's Nissan Open. Money earned from those two efforts will surely give him a start in US Tour events for the rest of the year.
In a four way tie for sixth were Ernie Els, Jim Furyk (whose bogeys on sixteen and seventeen really hurt his and my pocket) Bernard Langer (who put together an outstanding performance to record his seventh top ten in nineteen appearances at Augusta) and Kirk Triplett who had missed the cut at his two previous appearances here.
Special mention must once again go to the New Zealander Steve Williams who carries the bag for Tiger Woods and when you look at the record of Tiger in majors since Williams joined him just under two years ago it is clear that he has played a significant role in that success. Since turning professional towards the end of 1996 Woods has now played in seventeen major championships winning six, twice third has twelve top tens and fifteen top twenties. Since Steve Williams started with Tiger not long after the 1999 Masters he has played in eight majors had five wins once third, once fifth and once seventh. It is an amazing record that he has with Williams on the bag and a tribute to the very much-improved strategy that has developed as a result of the relationship.
And so to the efforts of the Australians. Appleby made only his sixth cut in his seventeen majors this week. He moved to five under par through ten holes today only to falter badly coming in with a triple bogey on twelve followed by a double on thirteen which cost him any chance of a top twenty finish eventually finishing 32nd.
Robert Allenby had weekend rounds of 75 and 75 for a total of 7 over and 47th place. Greg Chalmers a slow start after damaging a spectator on his very first hole but managed a second round of 72 however not good enough at 4 over to make the cut. I am still of the opinion however that Greg Chalmers may well be the next Australian to win a major. Baddeley still has a lot to learn and Norman after once again teasing us with his first round 71 fell apart during his second round for 82 to be the last place Australian. Any remote chance that Greg may have had of exorcising the demons of 1987 may well have disappeared forever.
And so what of the Tiger. Whether you subscribe to the theory that this is or is not a Grand Slam the fact remains that he is the first player ever to have achieved all four in what has been less than a year. There is no yardstick other than opinion at present to suggest he is the greatest ever and it may be that he needs to yet win more majors to achieve that status but it is the manner in which he is winning and the domination that he displays that suggests he can now be considered along with Nicklaus as the greatest ever.
A footnote worth remembering however for those quick to place Woods ahead of Nicklaus as the all time greatest is that Nicklaus has won 12 more majors than Tiger has to date and in 1971 and 1972 went very close to achieving what Tiger Woods has just done this weekend. Nicklaus won the 1971 USPGA then the 1972 US Masters followed by the US Open and in the 1972 British Open was beaten by one shot by Lee Trevino. So in less than a year in fact over a similar time frame (10 months) Nicklaus came within one shot of Tiger's amazing feat.
Hats off the great young man Tiger Woods however. He carries the mantle of the world's number one with dignity, humility and the class that makes him the great role model he is.
