A Grand Woody

Gotta talk some Tiger, dunes.

Earlier this year, Tiger Woods told the world - or, rather, the part of the world that's lame enough to read his blog - that winning the Grand Slam this year is "easily within reason." I was a little surprised when I read that, for two reasons:

(1) Most obviously, because it hasn't been done since Bobby Jones won the Grand Slam on the 11th green at Merion in 1930. And Jones won the US Open, US Amateur, British Open, and British Amateur. Not the same today. Tiger would have to win the Masters (which Jones started), the US Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. Tiger won the Tiger Slam in 2000-2001 by winning the last 3 majors of 2000 and the 2001 Masters, thus holding all four major championship trophies at the same time. I consider that a Grand Slam, but it's definitely not the Grand Slam.

And (2) Because after a few youthful foot-in-mouth indiscretions in 1996 and 1997, Tiger Woods has done an excellent job of keeping his mouth shut and letting his clubs do the talking. He has no reason to talk the talk because he lets other PGA Tour players speak for him. How many times have you seen a golfer play well only to be asked a barrage of questions about how his round compares to Tiger's, or how it will feel to play with Tiger in the final group tomorrow, or his thoughts on Tiger's firstborn?? An interview with Tiger is a nonevent, because he says nothing but fluff when he opens his mouth (a good idea, by the way), and at best he can only reiterate things that the other players have already said.

I'll probably ramble more about my thoughts about Tiger in future posts, but for now, I'll give you some free advice. Watch how Tiger plays in three important upcoming tournaments: The WGC-CA Championship at Doral, The Player's Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village. (He hasn't confirmed that he's playing in these, by the way, but it's a pretty safe bet that he will). All three of these courses are of major championship caliber and the fields are as strong as any. They are a good litmus test to see how he plays in the majors this year. Watch how he strikes the ball and how he works his way around the course. When he hits a bad shot, is he in the rough on the current hole or in the fairway three holes over? Is he taking unnecessary chances, or is he managing the course and his game the way he should? Note that I'm not saying, "If he wins these, he'll win the Grand Slam." Winning assumes he's putting well. Trust me, he'll putt well in the majors. What will derail him is his ballstriking and his course management. And of those two, believe me when I say that ballstriking is his weaker skill.

A final thought. These are the four courses hosting a major this year: Augusta, Torrey Pines, Royal St. Georges, and Valhalla. Tiger has won at Augusta 4 times, at Torrey Pines 6 times (including the Buick Invitational there for the past four consecutive years), never at Royal St. Georges, and he won the last PGA at Valhalla with style. I'm not ready to make the same prediction Tiger did, but keep an eye on him. A certain Lefty could define his career with a well-timed win over Tiger – say, at the PGA after Tiger won the first three?

-Brian