Players to finish runner-up in Tigerās major wins:
Kite (born 1949)
Garcia
Els (2x)
Jimenez
Bjorn
May
Duval
Goosen
Mickelson
DiMarco (2x)
Montgomerie
Micheel
Austin
Mediate
DJ
Koepka
Schauffele (born 1993)
WASHINGTON ā He was a fan on Sunday, too.
āIāve been a fan for I donāt know how long,ā Michael Jordan said on the phone Wednesday about his friend Tiger Woods, who came all the way back last Sunday to win the Masters. This wasnāt someone returning from a torn ACL (although Woods has had one of those) or Tommy John surgery. This was ā¦ well, we all know what Woodsā past decade has been like.
Winning the Masters at 43, 11 years after his last major, doesnāt make Woods a hero to everyone. I get that. He hurt a lot of people with his personal behavior, most notably his now ex-wife and his children. But those children were there at Augusta National on Sunday to witness their fatherās triumph, and share it with the rest of the world, and are now old enough to understand what it meant to him.
There are very, very few athletes who have been as dominant on their fields and courts as Woods. So, there are very, very few who have any idea what itās like to be that good and then lose your physical gifts and manage to win at the highest stage nonetheless. I wanted to talk with someone who had an inkling of how the best deal with athletic mortality.
So, Jordan.
Jordan, of the six championships in six NBA Finals and the five league NBA MVPs, six finals MVPs, 14 All-Star games and GOAT status (weāre not arguing about that this morning), is on that plateau. And, of course, heās a little familiar/obsessed with the dimpled ball. He has the unique perspective of being Woodsā friend, an athletic peer and a golf nut.
But even Jordan didnāt think Woods could come back this far, telling ESPN the Magazineās Wright Thompson in 2016, āThe thing is, I love him so much that I canāt tell him, āYouāre not gonna be great again.āā
āI never thought heād get back physically,ā Jordan said. āHe didnāt think heād get back physically. But he did it. No one expected him to be back the way he is now. Heās probably the only person who believed he could get back. To me, thatās a major accomplishment. To me, itās unbelievable. Mentally, you always think you can. But you canāt answer to what your body has to deal with.ā
Jordan famously suffered a fracture in his left foot during his second season with the Bulls. But other than that, he never had to deal with the significant physical problems Woods has had to deal with, from a torn ACL to a ruptured Achilles, topped by significant back problems before back fusion surgery two years ago allowed him to play without debilitating pain.
āI took two years off to play baseball, but nothing like that,ā Jordan said. āIām pretty sure he questioned himself, whether he could get it back, and he had to put a lot of work in. But he took it head-on. He had to change his game; he had to change his perspective a little bit. To me, it was the greatest comeback Iāve ever seen.ā
Jordan watched the final round Sunday with Luke Donald, the former world No. 1 who finished third in the 2005 Masters, at a watch party. (Stars! Theyāre just like us!) For Jordan, what transpired was familiar: dealing with challengers, some more than a decade later, and having as your best weapon not a club, or a move, but your institutional knowledge.
āYou rely so much on the mental toughness,ā Jordan said. āUntil you know what youāre capable of doing, youāre going to exert your will when you think you need to do so. But the biggest task is always going to be mental. Youāre going against guys who are more gifted physically. But your advantage is mental. You have so many things you can draw upon, and the other guys donāt have the same. They donāt have the experience. You think about (Francesco) Molinari hitting it in the water on 12, (Tony) Finau hitting in the water, Brooks (Koepka) hitting in the water on 12. Mentally, (Woods) had to sustain it. From then on it was him trying to figure it out.ā
Meanwhile, Woods hit into the middle of the green, instead of at the flag. And that made me wonder about the mentality of a superstar. In that moment, Woods could certainly have gone for it, too, to make a point ā I can still hit this stiff. But he didnāt. He played it smart. And I wondered if that was hard for him, to walk away from the macho play.
āNothingās hard under those circumstances,ā Jordan said. āAll you want to do is pick the right club. All your fundamentals are all in play. He yanked it a little bit, but itās the right yardage. From there, itās a two-putt. What he wanted to do was play to his strengths, and his strength was being mentally tougher than a lot of the other guys. Those guys had to deal with him.ā
Like everyone else, Jordan marveled at Woodsā ability to get back command of his bag so completely.
āHeās actually surprised me, and Iām happily surprised,ā Jordan said. āI always thought the biggest advantage for Tiger is his irons. Even if you donāt hit it as long or you donāt putt it as well, his iron game is the best in the game. When you start to lose your skills, you have to concentrate on the mental. These guys are hitting it unbelievably long. Precision is his game. He went through a tough stretch with his chipping. But heās come back
Now that Woods has his 15th major, Jordan believes the road ahead for his friend is clear.
āDealing with his emotions, obviously he believed in himself,ā Jordan said. āBut until you put that into action, sometimes itās a struggle. I think heās gotten over the hump. I think heās going to win more. Itās tough mentally. Itās absolutely tough mentally. And then you think about the physical. Iām elated.
āThey (Woodsā tour opponents) got problems. His confidence is only going to build from here. The unknown is the biggest thing. You donāt know what Tigerās capable of doing. Heās won a tour event (the Tour Championship last September), heās won the Masters, heās won a major.ā
Jordan called Woods this week to congratulate him.
āThere were so many people that were doubting him,ā Jordan said. āYou can think about the physical. But he overcame a lot of mental things, too. Not just the physical aspects, but all the scandals, too. I was watching TV and they were congratulating him, but the first thing they bring up is the negative aspect. Thatās what he had to deal with. Granted, we all make mistakes. But for him to come back and be able to win again, itās far tougher than anything I think anybodyās had to deal with.ā
Jordan still plays golf, of course. But now he watches his Charlotte Hornets, the team he became majority owner of in 2010. The Hornets, unlike Woods, finished just out of the money this past season, missing the playoffs by two games. There will be no comeback this time.
āItās tough sitting where I sit,ā Jordan said. āI have no control without the ball in my hands. Itās driving me crazy. But itās fun.ā
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Reading the Jeff Benedict/Armen Keteyian biography on him here at the moment. Heās some piece of work. That carry on with Steve Scott in the final of the 1996 US Amateur was something else.
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What happened
Sixteenth hole in the final. Woods aiming to be first player to ever win 3 in a row, he was turning pro straight after tournament for his Nike millions (which was still under wraps). Woods was two down and about to knock in a six foot putt to cut it to one down. Steve Scott his opponent pointed out to him that he was putting from Scottās marker (two balls had landed right beside each other). If heād putted from wrong spot, he forfeited hole and lost 3 & 2. Woods replaced ball and eventually won in sudden death play off. Woods blanked Scott on the 16th, never acknowledged it or mentioned it at end of match or interview afterwards to announce he was going pro.
Itās no wonder we never heard of Scott after. What a loser.
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He regularly ate Eamonn Coughlanās dust
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Scott said he didnāt want to win it on a technicality or have an asterisk after it.
What a gobshite
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Corinthian spirit.
Scott had no interest in turning pro, it was an amateur championhship. He ran a successful family business and Golf was his hobby/passion. What Woods did here was outlandish.
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He is a pro
it had a lasting effect on Tiger Woods anyway
āI did forget (to move my ball back),ā Woods said. āFor him to (remind me) was pretty remarkable. Ever since that one moment I always mark my marker heads up, and if I ever move my coin or someone asks me to move it, I always move it to tails, so when I look down at my ball if itās showing tails, that means I moved it. Thatās true sportsmanship (what Scott did). A testament to what the game of golf is all about.ā
At that time it wasnāt in his vista so my comment stands as correct.
Woods seemed pissed off that Scott and his hot caddie girlfriend had been stealing his thunder and were the story all week and not him.
#82
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Level with slammin Sammie
Would this Japanese lad ever shut the fuck up.
Ben Hogan would have won more only for his accident. He was nearly unbeatable before it