Comments on: Another day, another money shot: Tiger’s epic US Open win

By: Frank Birchall

Frank Birchall — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

No argument that Woods is a superb golf player, but the comparison with other world-class sportsmen is misplaced. It presupposes that golf is a “sport” in the same way that tennis, football, cycling, boxing etc. are. It is not: it is essentially you against the course and yourself. The other sports involve continuous interaction, sometimes physical and fierce, thrust and parry, with your opponent. Athleticism, agility, speed, stamina and resilience, strategy and tactics, are critical to success in these sports. Not so in golf where one sees world-class players, obese and middle aged, spending most of their time strolling around the course, with their equipment carried by caddies.

By: The Kid From Bondi

The Kid From Bondi — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Amazing golf and two amazing golfers. I stayed up until 2am Tuesday night just to watch the REPLAY! As much as I admire Tiger I was disappointed in his acceptance speech - not at all magnanimous in victory as I would have expected him to be. Only a passing reference to Rocco when I would have loved him to say something like “as delighted as I am to have won I am sad that I had to beat Rocco to do so”. OK it may be a bit karmic but Tiger showed the mind set and absolute competitive spirit required at this level of play. Still it would have been nice if he had been more magnanimous in victory.

By: henry f

henry f — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

That’s a reasonable argument Frank, but I don’t think it stands up. I accept that playing golf is to an arguable degree about mastering yourself, your swing and the conditions. But, it is false to say your opponents have no effect on your game. If Woods was three behind or three ahead when he played the 72nd hole, his approach to that now famous putt would have been completely different. The ensuing 19 hole play off was not played in a vacuum in which Woods and Mediate had no idea what the other was doing. There may not be any physical contact, but golf is a sport in which the actions of your direct opponent have a direct effect on your own actions, especially in a play-off. On those grounds, Charles’ contention that Woods is, at worst, the equal of current and former sporting greats, is entirely defensible. My suspicion is that Woods will surpass them all, if only because, unlike most other sportspeople, golfers can have a 20+ year career.