Tiger Woods still needs true challenger
Not to put a damper on the history Tiger Woods is making these days, but one couldn't help but wonder if Arnold Palmer, as he sat on his perch Sunday, was thinking, "Boy, I wish I could have played against these guys."
Woods didn't exactly beat Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Billy Casper, as Palmer was forced to in his day. With the exception of Vijay Singh, the five other players who finished within four shots of Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitational hardly constitute golf's elite.
Granted, Sean O'Hair is getting there (at a snail's pace, we might add), but he came into the tournament ranked 35th in the world. Hunter Mahan was 34th.
Ken Duke, who tied for sixth, sat in the 157th spot and Cliff Kresge, who tied for third, languished at 207th. Valiant runner-up Bart Bryant arrived at Bay Hill ranked 137th in the world.
As for Singh, he might be showing some signs of aging at 45, having slipped to No. 11 in the world before the tournament. You could see why as he struggled with the putter over the weekend.
At least Singh gave Woods some big-name competition. World No. 2 Phil Mickelson (tied for 21st) and Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia (tied for 31st) were long gone when Woods canned his incredible putt on 18.
All of this raises the question: Is there anybody out there capable of beating Woods?
Woods will go for his sixth straight PGA Tour victory this week at the CA Championship. He has won three in a row at Doral.
Why bother even playing the tournament, right? Just hand Woods the trophy and wish him good luck at Augusta.
There is no question Woods is playing some of the greatest golf of his career, and that's saying quite a bit. But wouldn't it be nice if one of the game's other elite players stepped up and made him sweat?
Last week's tournament underscores the one flaw in the Woods era. He hasn't been required to beat players who will be listed on the first page of golf's all-time leaderboard.
Bobby Jones had to go up against Gene Sarazen and Walter Hagen. Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson knocked heads during their days.
The battles involving Palmer, Nicklaus and Player morphed into Nicklaus and Tom Watson, with a dose of Lee Trevino thrown in for good measure.
The collection of Woods' challengersâ€â€Mickelson, Singh and Ernie Elsâ€â€will be Hall of Famers (Singh already is in), but none has come close to being a Watson to Nicklaus. Imagine how many majors Nicklaus would have won without having to face Watson, Player and Palmer.
Mickelson has had the best of Woods on occasion, but not enough times to make a lasting impression. As we saw in Dubai in February, Els has a huge mental block when it comes to trying to finish off Woods.
Singh had his chance last weekend. After the second round, he led at 9 under, seven shots ahead of Woods. Then Singh, like the other contenders, went backward on Saturday, as the leaders dropped to 6 under. Thank you very much, Woods said, as his 66 pulled him into a tie for the top spot.
It is remarkable how things fall into place that way for Woods. Of course, he took full advantage by shooting 66 back-to-back on the weekend.
None of this is meant to take anything away from Woods. He can only face the competition thrown at him. Woods has beaten them down so much, an element of futility has set in.
The golf world has been waiting for more than a decade for a true rival to emerge for Woods. It doesn't look as if that player is coming around any time soon.
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