|
"IF YOU LIKE GOLF"
weekly online golf column
by
Chris Dortch
April 10, 2001
Now that Tiger Woods has all four major championship trophies
sitting in his living room, the debate over what to call his
amazing run of success rages.
No, he hasn't yet won the Grand Slam, the term (which hasn't
had to be used because no one's done it) given to anyone who wins
all four professional majors in a single season. But Woods has an
amazing accomplishment behind him, and there's nothing official to
call it.
I don't like "Tiger Slam," which was offered up by
CBS announcer Jim Nantz last Sunday. "Consecutive Slam"
sounds a little too easy, and it's boring, too. "Sensational
Slam" has it merits, especially if you're in to alliteration.
Those two "s" words said back to back really roll off
the tongue, don't they?
Along those lines, I've even heard "Great Slam"
tossed about.
I'm sorry I can't put on my thinking cap and come up with
something as clever as Bobby Jones' former friend, confidante and
recorder of great deeds, O.B. Keeler. It was Keeler who first
coined the phrase Grand Slam, but it was a bit different when
Jones did the deed in 1930, when the United States and British
Amateurs were grouped together with the U.S. and British Opens.
Even Keeler, who was brilliant (former Chattanooga Times golf
writer Eddie Davidson, who knew Keeler, once told me he could
speak for as long as he wanted to in rhyme), might have trouble
giving Woods' accomplishment a name. And when you throw in the
Canadian Open, Tournament Players Championship and World Series of
Golf (yes, I'm still calling it that) titles—the trophies of
which also reside in Woods' trophy room—well, a wordsmith could
drive himself nuts trying to figure it all out.
I prefer to label Woods' latest triumph with but a single word
that, being the father of two teenagers, I hear a lot—awesome.
Perhaps the word is overused, but what better way to describe
Woods' recent domination?
Make no mistake. We witnessed history last Sunday when Woods
held off Phil Mickleson and David Duval to win the Masters. And
unless Woods does this again, we aren't likely to see one man's
name engraved on every major championship trophy in such close
proximity.
The real question besides what to call Woods' spectacular
achievement is what can he do next? It's scary to think that the
real prime of his career might be 10 years away. It's even scarier
to think that, given Woods' penchant for physical conditioning,
he's likely to contend in major championships for another 25
years.
It's safe to say Jack Nicklaus record of 18 professional majors
is history.
Nicklaus likes to count his two U.S. Amateurs among his major
total, and who's to quibble with the Golden Bear? He's earned that
right. But remember, Woods won three U.S. Amateurs. Coupled with
his two Masters, two PGAs, U.S. Open and British Open, that gives
Woods—in Nicklaus math—nine major titles.
To be sure, it isn't a question of whether Woods can claim 20
majors, but when he's going to do it. At the pace Woods is on now,
Nicklaus' record will go down the tubes in three years.
Could Woods win every major championship for the next three
years? It isn't likely, but you might find plenty of people
willing to take that bet.
It isn't as though the Duvals and Mickelsons of the word are
falling at Woods' feet and letting him win majors. Both of them
tried like hell to wrest that green jacket away from him last
Sunday. But the two best players in the world who aren't named
Woods couldn't get it done.
As Mickelson himself said, he's got the game to occasionally
stop Tiger in his tracks on a regular PGA Tour event, where an
errant tee shot or missed green can be overcome. But in major
championship competition, Mickelson still has demons in his game
he must exorcise. The same can be said of any top player in the
world. Woods is too smart, too strong, too skilled and too brave
to be overcome in the majors, especially if he grabs the 54-hole
lead. He's money in the bank when he heads into Sunday, where,
clothed in red, he can close the deal better than anyone in
history.
It's boggles the mind to think of what Woods might do next. My
guess is that the Grand Slam debate has given him incentive for
the other three majors in 2001. You can just hear him now:
"They don't think I've got the Grand Slam, huh? I'll show
them."
###
|