Capelle On Golf

Tiger Woods proved in the final round of The Memorial Tournament that he is all of the way back – and them some. His closing round of 65 Tiger featured a 14 for 14 performance of the tee that was reminiscent of host Jack Nicklaus’ best with the big stick. In fact, Nicklaus called it Tiger’s “best week ever with the driver.” Tiger also tied for third in green in regulation.

So much for the physical part. With the tournament on the line Tiger, who has shown signs of weakness down the stretch of late, elevated his game during winning time, with birdies on 17 and 18 on putts of nine feet and 12 inches respectively.

His second win of the season and his 67th win PGA Tour victory underscored Tiger’s brilliance as well as the mental weakness of the Tiger Generation of pros. As the old saying goes (so to speak), the Memorial doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday.

After parring 10, Woods stepped on the accelerator (and the throats of his competitors) when he holed a chip from a horrible lie in back of the 11th green for an eagle that elicited an Augusta like roar from the patrons, and that shot shockwaves up and down the leaderboard. From that moment in,  the field went into self destruct mode. Consider these back nine disasters:

Jonathon Byrd  39  (doubles on 14 and 18)
Mark Wilson  37 (three putted one hole from two feet)
Matt Bettencourt (three bogeys on the last five holes)
Davis Love  38  (finished bogey, triple bogey)
Ernie Els  38  (two over on the final five holes)
Geoff Ogilvy  40 (a snowman on 14)

Only Tiger, with a closing 32, and seasoned pro Jim Furyk (33), who birdied 18, thrived on the final nine pressure. The rest folded like cheap lawn chairs.

Now, with the US Open to start in 11 days, Tiger’s resurgence with the driver is well timed for the super long Bethpage Black. In winning in 2002 at the Black, Woods tied for seventh in both accuracy and distance, making for a deadly combo. This week Tiger was second in accuracy off the tee, hitting 87.5% of Muirfield’s expansive fairways, while ranking 12t in distance – again an impressive statistical duo.

When you combine his improved tee balls with his laser like iron game, clutch putting, and super sharp scrambling, it is easy to see why he is now the heavy favorite to defend his Open title. Certainly the odds makers think so because, (as of 6:23ET) Ladbroke’s, the venerable English betting house has Tiger at 7/4 to win the US Open. Phil Mickelson, who will be hard-pressed to contend because of Amy’s health and his lack of play, is a distant second at 8/1. Ogilvy comes next at 16/1, and everyone else is at 20/1 or higher.

During the Woods Era it has been fascinating to watch how quickly Tiger can alter the golf world’s  perceptions of the competitiveness of the sport. One moment he’s invincible. The next the scribes are raving about Kim, McIlroy, Casey, Mickelson, Garcia, Harrington, Perry and the rest. Then, overnight, Tiger will get his A game rolling, and it’s back to a one man show.

So while we wait for a bevy of true rivals to emerge, the more the players change, the more the game at the top still remains the same.