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Woods: Red-hot favourite
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It had to happen. After years of being The Revered One in US sporting media circles, Tiger Woods is becoming a real target for the snipers. And they could well be out in force for this week's US PGA Championship.
The redder-than-red-hot favourite (quoted at even money by the Las Vegas bookies, while nearest contender Phil Mickelson is rated only a 12-1 shot and the likes of Sergio Garcia, Kenny Perry and Vijay Singh are all 25-1) is still looking for his first Major of 2009 after finishing a fairly distant sixth at both the Masters and US Open and missing the cut at The Open Championship.
With his lack of headline success (he has 'only' the four PGA titles to his name this season, plus the WGC title at Firestone in Ohio at the weekend), his on-course actions are being scrutinised and analysed like never before.
One well-known commentator for ESPN has taken him to task for his club-throwing 'tantrums' (is this suddenly John McEnroe we're talking about?) while another insists he should be hauled over the coals for slow play following the controversial 'on the clock' incident at the 16th hole on Sunday, when he and Padraig Harrington were made to seem like naughty schoolboys by referee John Paramor.
The upshot of the latter has been great fodder for sport's talk-show terrors this week, with Tiger having to deny he was fined by the PGA as a result of the incident (funnily enough, they didn't focus on Harrington for the supposed 'crime') and the whole situation - dubbed Stop Watch-gate in one publication - becoming a minor cause célèbre.
Now we come to the big shootout at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota - a beautiful part of the world, by the way, with more lakes than you can shake a two-wood at - and you can be sure any sign of weakness or even mild temper on Woods' part will be put under the microscope when the 91st PGA tees off (live on SS1 at 7pm on Thursday and Friday, 4pm on SS3 on Saturday and 4pm on SS2 on Sunday).
Impressive
You have probably already heard the monstrous Hazeltine course will be the longest ever in Major history. Just the idea of walking 7,674 yards, let alone trying to hit a golf ball that far, makes me weak at the knees, so for Tiger and his rebuilt left knee it promises to be another challenge, as well as a discussion point that the commentators are sure to talk to death in the opening day or so.
But expect to hear a lot of the phrases 'tantrum watch', 'slow play watch,' and, presumably, 'stop-watch watch' as well.
Tiger's record in this event is almost certain to be used against him if he - gasp! - doesn't win come Sunday night. He already has four US PGA titles under his belt (only Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus have won this event more often), and victories in 2006 and '07 (he didn't compete in '08, of course) have the pundits virtually insisting this one ought to be in the bag, too.
Golf, of course, isn't quite so cut and dried, especially when it comes to the Big Four titles*. All three so far this year have gone to players outside the top 30 at the time (Angel Cabrera, Lucas Glover and Stewart Cink), which suggests it is just a freaky year. But, of course, normal standards do not apply when it comes to judging the world No 1.
His 14 previous Majors in 49 outings suggest he rarely goes three tournaments without adding one more of them to his impressive collection. Purely and simply, he is DUE to win this week (if you believe the stats). And that means the scrutiny over every shot, every word and every grimace will be immense.
That, in turn, means it will almost certainly NOT be Woods that is holding up the Wanamaker Trophy after 72 holes of this tough-as-nails course.
Think about it. He went into the Masters on the back of a dramatic last-hole win in the Arnold Palmer Invitation at Bay Hill in Orlando; he won the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village the week before the US Open; and he blitzed the Congressional Country Club for the AT&T title and win No 3 as a warm-up to Turnberry.
On each pre-Major occasion, he was bang in form, the bookies' favourite by a country mile - and ended up failing by an even bigger margin (by his Major standards).
Pundits
Now, if anything, he is even MORE in form for the 'last chance' of the year. So he can only fail once again, surely?
If you follow my logic (which, admittedly, has little to do with actually watching golf), and the 'outsider' pattern already established for this year's main events, you should be looking for the likes of Ben Curtis, Tim Clark, Brian Gay, Mathew Gogin and Chad Campbell for this week's winner.
All four currently languish outside the top 30 in the world rankings and only one of them (like Cabrera) has a Major to their name already (Curtis, the 2003 British Open champ). Crucially, all four have a surname starting with C or G (see, I'm pretty scientific).
So, when the pundits all turn on Tiger for failing to add a 15th Major to his collection, you can sit back in your chair and insist "It was never going to happen." And raise a glass to KJ Choi, or Paul Goydos, or Ben Crane...
* If Tiger has his way, it will be FIVE in 2016. His comments in support of golf being added to the Olympics have gained big coverage in the US, who need another Olympic medal about as much as they need to add to the national debt.
Of course, if the Olympics bring back golf, they will then need to add American football, darts, shuffleboard, synchronised archery and karaoke.
