Archive for May, 2010
Tiger Woods – Is He Still the Best?
In my opinion Tiger Woods has a very long hard road back. He may never reach the success in golf that he could have achieved had it not been for the revelation of his mere mortal existence. Prior to the incident last November and the exposure of his sex addictions, his many dalliances while married and his self imposed isolation from the PGA Tour, he had been placed on a pedestal by his peers, his fans and the golfing public. His immeasurable feats while on the golf course and his ability to intimidate his opponents in competition made him appear almost superhuman to most.
Since his arrival on the golf scene in 1997, and his dramatic win at The Masters, where he decimated the field by 12 shots, he has exuded superior golfing skills most other players on tour. Over the last few years Tiger Woods has seemed out of sorts at times and faltered during competition where that would have never occurred prior to that time. It became painfully obvious during the PGA Championship last season when he lost to Y.E. Yang on the back nine on Sunday after being in the lead after 54 holes. It has become clear what caused the lack of concentration and his unprecedented collapse at the PGA. His distraction and pre-occupation with his personal life exposed his shortcomings and frailty to his peers and he has now let the door open for another great player to potentially fill that void. Great people and players rise to the occasion when the opportunity presents itself and he provided that possibility to happen.
Despite his shortcomings it will be no easy task to dethrone Tiger Woods as the # 1 golfer. He is still an extremely skilled golfer no matter what turmoil has befallen him in his personal life. Besides his divorce proceedings which are underway and his neck injury which caused him to withdraw from The Players Championship, he has just split with his long time golf coach, Hank Haney. The split was reported to have been initiated by Haney and understandably so. Tiger will have an uphill battle to regain his place in golf immortality but an even tougher one to reacquire the respect of his peers, his at one time many fans and his sponsors. His ability to hit golf balls is perhaps matched by no other, but it takes more than skill to make a man the gentleman he is supposed to be in order to participate and compete in this centuries old game! Happy Golfing to All!
I had the opportunity to play Trump National Golf Course located in Colts Neck, NJ this past Friday. I must admit that Donald Trump knows how to do things one way, top notch. The course was taken over by the Trump Organization a short time ago and was revitalized to the tune of approximately $10,000,000 in upgrades.
The one upgrade that impressed me the most was the addition of a 19th hole situated at the rear of the club house just off the dining veranda. The hole is scheduled to be completed by the end of June. Anyone having lunch or enjoying a beer or other libation after the golf round can watch the golfers hit their golf balls onto the green or in the water as it is an Island Green for all intents and purposes. This is a fun innovation where all the bets made during the golf round will be doubled or lost, depending on who can handle the pressure better. Donald Trump has added another fine golf course to his portfolio and I look forward to playing there again soon. Happy Golfing to All!