The talk of the golfing world this Monday will once again be about Tiger Woods, this time for his efforts at the Memorial at MuirfieldVillage en route to winning his Golden Bear-tying 73rd professional victory. However, even with a memorable shot on 16 to basically capture the title, Tiger’s Sunday was more a sign of improved focus than anything supernatural.Everyone likes a fairy tale, especially in sports. Fans remember the Tiger Woods who would pull shots out of you-know-where at just the right moment, snatching victory away from the field in one dramatic moment. Fans everywhere saw a flash of his brilliance late yesterday afternoon in the form of an impossibly-accurate flop shot off of Muirfield’s 16th hole. And when Tiger’s golf ball disappeared from sight after a slow march towards the hole, mayhem ensued for a few moments predicated by an emphatic fist-pump we all know so well.
Tiger’s Sunday More Focused Than Magical
But even though that shot will be remembered as “how Tiger won the Memorial”, it should instead be remembered as “the shot that put Tiger in position to win the Memorial”. The real game-winner for Tiger came on the 18th hole after sticking his 9-iron approach from over 170 yards to within 10 feet of the cup, and the birdie putt that followed.
Except, that putt was more routine than anything and a heck of a lot less-flashy. There were no fist pumps, nor any laps ran around the green. Just a routine birdie followed by a raising of the putter in a manner that screamed “FINALLY!” from Woods. In some ways, that gesture was much more telling than anything he used to celebrate on the 16th green.
Make no mistake about it, folks; Tiger Woods won the Memorial because of his focus throughout four days of golf and not only because of a flop shot on Sunday. In what has unfortunately become less-common than fans would like to admit, Tiger maintained control of his swing, his emotions, and his scoring throughout four consecutive rounds of golf. For a man who has struggled with consistency for three years, that achievement this weekend was more than enough to be pleased with from his perspective.
