When he began his first round in the 135th British Open at Royal Liverpool Tiger Woods looked like he had a plan.Starting with a one-shot advantage and with 14 men within five shots of his lead, Woods semt to be taking them down one by one. Just a month after he missed the first mayor cut of his professional carrer at the U.S Open, Woods won his fourth victory worldwide this year and third on the PGA Tour earned him $1.33 million and pushed him to the top of the money list. He became the first player to win the British Open back to back. Woods became the first player to win this event back-to-back since Tom Watson in 1982-83. He also tied Walter Hagen, who won a British Open on these same storied links in 1924, for second place on the all-time list of major winners. At the age of 30, he's seven away from matching the record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus. Woods showed us a hint of his softer side after his victory in the 2005 Masters. He had choked up during the victory ceremony when he mentioned that Earl Woods, that for the first time, had been too weak to attend. But he quickly recovered that day. This triumph marked the fist time that he couldn't hug his beloved "Pops" or at least phone home after a major victory. Woods raised his arms, bellowed, "Yes," and punched the air. Seconds later, standing in the middle of the green, he buried his head in the shoulder of his caddie, Steve Williams, and began sobbing uncontrollably. It is very understandable knowing that whole bunch of things piled up, dealing with a challenging golf course, holding off a gaggle of prominent players trying to catch him and ultimately prevailing in a major championship all paled in comparison with the sadness he felt knowing he would not be able to tell his father all about it, but we all now he would have been proud, very proud. |
