Friday, October 7, 2011

Do You Want Frys.com With That?

Brendan Steele, Briny Baird, Garret Willis, Matt Bettencourt.  Golf's Mt. Rushmore?  Not exactly. They sit atop the leaderboard and are merely four of the 85 golfers who are currently ahead of Tiger Woods at the Frys.com Open this week in San Martin, California.  My how the mighty have fallen.
Timber!

There was a time when Tiger Woods shunned tournaments with url's in the title, now it may be one of the few he's eligible for.  Not having played since an MC at the PGA Championship in August, there has been so much speculation that Tiger's career may be over.  He hasn't won a tournament in over two years now, and outside of a T4 at the Masters, hasn't even really contended in one for over a year.  He simply isn't the same golfer that dominated the sport for over ten years.

To silence the critics, Tiger needs a good finish, even if only a top ten, simply to say to everyone 'I can still play.'  Playing in the Frys.com Open, a smaller tournament with lesser known names, less media attention and less pressure, may seem like the perfect opportunity for a fallen star to regain his lustre.

But through one round, it hasn't been pretty for the IHOP frequent flyer, who struggled to a two-over 73 on Thursday.  The problem with playing in a smaller tournament, with lesser known names, less media attention and less pressure, is it is also interpreted to be 'easier' for a golfer like Tiger Woods to do well.  He shouldn't just finish well this week, he's expected to run away with this tournament.  Or at least old Tiger would have been.  New Tiger, Tiger 2.0, Tiger sans Steve, whatever we call him, shouldn't be expected to run away with this tournament.  In fact, it should be surprising if he does play well.  No longer is he Tiger Woods, the world's most dominant golfer.  Now he is Tiger Woods, 132nd in FedEx points in 2011, playing out what's left of the exemption from his 2008 US Open win.


-TheRev


Jersey Fouls
twitter.com/TheRevBW
thesportsroundup@gmail.com
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2 comments:

Newman said...

You make a good point. There are still legit golfers in this tournament like Paul Casey, not to mention 4 Canadians that are in contention which is a story in itself.

Unknown said...

I think that speaks to the strength of the field: 'Four Canadians in contention.'

Sounds more like the Art Ross Trophy.