Boston-Homer

The Masters, Tiger, and me.

The Tiger phenomena has taken on a new level this past week. Tiger has re-entered the public eye, and most would argue that the public eye is even bigger than it used to be.
It leads me to ask a few questions about this new public Tiger...

1) Will people stop caring about Tiger's personal life now that Tiger is back playing golf?
As the spring fades into the summer the Tiger haters will find someone else to hate. Jesse James or the next ass who thinks he can treat his wife like trash. The world of golf will forgive Tiger, in many circles in golf he has already been forgiven.
So yes, people will stop caring about Tiger. They will realize that rooting against Tiger means they have to watch golf, which means they will realize why they did not watch golf in the first place. They think it is boring.



Tiger signing autographs...whoa...

2) How long will this comfy, cozy, smiley Tiger last?
Tiger is different. Let me rephrase that. Tiger is acting different: not as guarded, not playing 7am practice rounds, and he is even signing autographs! He seems more relaxed and willing to let us in, or make us FEEL like he is letting us in. In truth, he isn't. The probing questions from the media will fade with time. Tiger's behavior this week is not what people should be focused on. It's his behavior in August, when he is not the main story, when the tabloids do not care quite as much as they do now.



Thie Irish are coming...

3) Will you root for Tiger or won't you?
Isn't this the biggest question? Do you feel like you will be judged if you say openly, "I am rooting for Tiger." Well let me lead the way, I am rooting for Tiger at the Masters. There I said it. Man that feels better.
Does rooting for Tiger mean I condone his actions? I dont think so. I have idolized Tiger as a golfer, AS A GOLFER, for 13 years. He is everyone's benchmark in the game. I was amazed at his ability to push everything aside and focus on golf (now it is actually more impressive).
Clearly people will tune in for the NASCAR effect. The desire to see a crash, to see something bad happen. Foolishly these people think they will see something crazy happen. Foolishly these people will tune in and make The Masters one of the most watched TV events of all time. Foolishly, these people we find that the only thing on the TV is golf. Golf without the TMZ twist. So if you want to root for Tiger, go for it. I will be. If you don't want Tiger to win. Do yourself a favor, don't tune in. Don't feed the monster. Rating don't care about who you are rooting for.

4) What is going to happen to Tiger this week?
I think Tiger is going to have the type of week he always has when he loses a major. He will do something very well (Drive, manage the course well, putt). But something will happen and we will say well if Tiger had (driven the ball better, putted better, or not made one bonehead mistake) he would have won. He will be just close enough on the weekend to have everyone playing scenarios in their head that make him win, but none of them will come through. Tiger's best round will be on Sunday.




Martin Kaymer everyone....is it bad that I know exactly where he is on the course?

5) Who is going to win the Masters?
Well the Masters has a strange tradition, and in the past 10 years there have been 2 types or winners. The guy you expect to win and the guy who you didn't expect. Here are the winner from last decade:

2009 - Angel Cabrera
2008 - Trevor Immelman
2007 - Zach Johnson
2006 - Phil Mickelson
2005 - Tiger Woods
2004 - Phil Mickelson
2003 - Mike Weir
2002 - Tiger Woods
2001 - Tiger Woods
2000 - Vijay Singh

Singh, Woods, and Mickelson were not a surprise, but the others were. I think this year will be a year where the old guard dominates. Els, Tiger, Phil, and even Vijay Singh could pull it out.

Here is my short list:
Padraig Harrington
Ernie Els
Phil Mickelson

Guys I want to see in contention:
Anthony Kim
Sean O'Hair
Martin Kaymer (German 25 year old. Ranked #8 in the world. I have never heard from him until an SI article on him last week).
David Duval

Dark horse (kind of):
Ben Curtis
Oliver Wilson