YOU GONNA BET AGAINST HIM?:

Brokenhearted, But Unbowed (Thomas Boswell, June 16, 2006, Washington Post)

How can you be an immortal if you admit you're human?

Tiger Woods walked off the 18th green here at Winged Foot after shooting 76 in the first round of the U.S. Open and said exactly what his late father would have expected: no problem. Played pretty well. Just have to adjust to putting on greens that were slower than expected. Tighten up the driving a bit. Shoot under par on Friday and Saturday. Then win the U.S. Open on Father's Day.

Win the Open after an opening 76? "It's been done before, hasn't it?" Woods said.

Oh sure, if you count '51 and '55, when Ben Hogan and Jack Fleck still played with shepherd's crooks and 76 wasn't such a bad score.

No doubt, Woods believed every word he said Thursday, even though, to any objective eye, his self-evaluation was utter self-delusion. Yet that is exactly the competitive core that Earl Woods tried to instill in his prodigy from toddler days. The willed emphasis on the positive, the stubborn clinging to hope, the refusal to admit vulnerability -- all so common among champions and those of exceptional achievement -- were standing Earl's son in good stead in a bleak hour.

Gotta think that if his life was at stake and you offered Mr. Boswell a choice of Tiger or the field he'd take Tiger. And you probably couldn't find anyone in the world, including Mr. Montgomerie himself, who thinks the clubhouse leader will finish ahead of Tiger on Sunday evening.

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 16, 2006 7:31 AM