For all of the guile of Tiger Woods it was a little too much to expect him to repeat the feat of winning an unprecedented six straight official tournaments. Though he didn’t fare too well at the CA WGC tournament held at the Doral Resort & Golf Club in Miami, Fl. He held the crowd at bay with all the usual suspense and showmanship expected of him. Australian Geoff Ogilvy winner of the CA WGC event at Doral Resort Golf & Country Club in Miami, Fl .
picture courtesy of ap/photos/Tom Sladsky…….
The eventual winner of the event was Australian golfer Geoff Ogilvy a former US Open winner. Ogilvy’s winning total of 271 at -17 under par was good enough to win with him taking home not only the trophy but $1,350,000 as the winning purse. There was a three way tie for second place with Vijay Singh , Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk sharing that honor . Each of those three took home $530,000 as their winnings having finished on shot behind the winner Ogilvy. Woods was the lone finisher back in fifth place finishing at -15 under par .
Woods seen here at the 14th hole during the final round of the CA WGC event held at Doral. Perhaps Tiger was seeking divine intervention at the time ? As his putt would miss the hole by mere inches. picture courtesy of ap/photos/Tom Sladsky…….
Much has and will be made of the fact that Woods didn’t close out the deal . But when you consider what’d had transpired over the course of the five days that it took to complete the event you can’t blame Woods for this failure. Enclement weather doomed his chances and if anything made it all the more improbable for him to pull off the win. But that being said this’ll only further his resolve to acquit himself better the next time around. And that’ll be something that a lot of his peers will be thinking about now as the first major of the season is just around the corner. Woods’s preparation each and every season is built around the majors and the winning of the tiered events on the PGA Tour is a bonus and by product of that preparation. The Masters at Augusta is just a few weeks aways and once again Woods’ll be the odds on favorite to win the tournament. And it’d take a fool to bet against him at this juncture.
Woods plays his second shot on the 12th during the final round at Doral. picture courtesy of ap/photos/Tom Sladsky ………
The first major of the season and the whole of the golf will be encapsulated by Woods once again as he tries to assail the record books. His goal is somewhat simple , to make the feat of his hero Jack Nicklaus just another postcript in the long line of achievements that’ll place him alongside the greats of the game. But in all honesty we’re already acknowledging the fact that he’s the greatest player ever to play the game of golf. Do we really need to see him achieve any other apparent feats that superlatives already used can’t describe ? Woods’ record already speaks for itself . His fifth place finish at Doral pushed his official career earnings to in excess of $80m on the PGA Tour and worldwide. His 64 official wins on the Tour place him third on the alltime PGA winner’s list of which only Nicklaus at 73 wins and Sam Snead with 82 wins stand ahead of him. Those statisitics more likely than not will be passed by Woods within the two to three years. However it is Nicklaus’ 18 major wins that Woods has his eyes on and only the goal of winning the majors is what drives him in his pursuit of excellence. His 12 major wins puts him within striking distance of Nicklaus and the thought of him equalling or breaking that treasured record isn’t lost on him. His legend is already etched in the annals of the game but it’d be prescient in knowing that Woods would be the one to attain that goal.
Woods leaves the 72nd hole of the final rouns knowing that he was unable to win the tournament. picture courtesy of ap/photo/Geoff Wilkinson……..
Whatever else he achieves throughout the course of his esteemed career it’ll be that feat that his career’ll be defined by. And we all like to say how at one time or another we’ve witnessed some historical event be it sporting or otherwise. Let us at this time just step back and take note of what it is that Woods has done throughout the course of his career thus far. Its been said that if Tiger’s pursuit this year is to complete the calendar Grand Slam then this just might be the year when all the stars will align and fall into place for him. Winning all four majors in the same year hasn’t been done since the days of Bobby Jones. And then the championships weren’t the ones now contested. But the fact of the matter is Woods sets himself these goals and then goes out to strive to achieve them even if on paper they appear unachievable. It’s the measure of the belief in his own capabilities that sets him apart from his peers of today. And it is also this that’ll set him apart from the era that played the game before him. Greatness may well come in many guises but true greatness is forever eternal but when viewing Tiger Woods do we really need to be asking anymore questions ?
topshouse ……………
Fatal error: Call to undefined function avatar_email_exists() in /home/admin/public_html/wp-content/mu-plugins/avatar-comments.php on line 34