By Art Spander
For RealClearSports.comNo, we didn't believe it. Even if we watched it unfold. It was fantasy strangling reality, the impossible becoming actuality. It was Tiger Woods losing a major golf tournament.
We wanted someone to step up and challenge Tiger, wanted somebody not to melt in his presence. We thought it might be Padraig Harrington, who had three majors of his own. Or in his fading glory, Ernie Els. Instead it turned out to be a Korean named Y.E. (for Yong-Eun) Yang.
Only the day before, Harrington was saying the fans wanted someone to challenge Tiger, "to make it a battle.'' Not to beat him, but to make it interesting. This 91st PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, on the prairieland west of Minneapolis, got very interesting.
Then it got out of hand. Then it got ridiculous. Then it got head-shockingly bizarre and unprecedented.
Fourteen times before, Tiger Woods had led a major golf championship into the final round, and 14 times Tiger had won. So why wouldn't it be 15 out of 15, especially since he had led from Thursday's first round? Especially since he was paired with Yang, which everyone believed meant Yang would fold. Isn't Tiger the great intimidator?
What he wasn't on Sunday was the great putter. Took 33 putts, did Mr. Woods. Shot 5-over par 75. Went from a two-shot lead to a three-shot deficit, as Yang had a 70 for a 72-hole score of 8-under 280. Went a year without a major victory for the first time in 2009.
But he didn't go without proving what a sportsman he is, what a gentleman he is.
You can tell more about a person by the way he acts after a defeat than after a victory. It's easy to be charming, responsive, when you're holding the trophy, when they're giving you the accolades. But an individual unveils himself when he or she doesn't win.
Tiger is painfully protective. His post-match remarks intentionally are bland, even boring. If you don't say anything in particular, he believes, than nobody can misquote you or misinterpret you. So keep it simple and uncontroversial.
But Woods pulled the mask away just a bit. He was disappointed. He had to be. We thought he would win. He thought he would win. Didn't he always win before?
"Today,'' conceded Woods, "was not very good at all. I had a few misreads on putts, and I hit some bad putts too. It was a bad day at the wrong time, and that's the way it goes.''
There's a saying about golf, that it's like a love affair. That if you don't take it seriously it's no fun, and if you do it can break your heart. If Tiger's heart isn't broken, his armor of vulnerability certainly is.
Nobody's perfect. Except Tiger Woods had been with a lead the final day of a major golf championship. Now the perfection is wiped away.
"All the other 14 major championships I've won I've putted well for the entire week,'' he said. "Today was a day that didn't happen. I didn't win. I hit the ball well enough. I didn't make any putts.''
When asked whether he lost this PGA or the 27-year-old Yang won it, Woods said, "It's both. I certainly was in control. And Y.E. played great all day.''
That's the beauty of sport. There's always the unexpected. There's always a Y.E. Yang or a soccer team from Cameroon or a rookie pitcher who steps up and makes us take notice.
No Asian ever had won a major golf championship. Until Yang. Tiger Woods never had lost a major golf championship when he led after 54 holes. Until Yang.
"I don't think anyone has gone 14 for 14 or 15 for 15,'' said Woods when asked if losing was inevitable. "So I've certainly . . . like today I played well enough to win.''
Strange things happen in sports. Outfielders drop easy fly balls. That's why athletes always stay wary. It isn't over, we -- and they -- have been told, until it's over. So don't get feeling too cocky.
Tiger led the PGA from the 15th hole the first round. On Saturday, the media kept trying to get him to admit the tournament was over, that he had it locked up. Woods kept evading the question, kept insisting that he had to play to the end.
He was right. We were wrong. We thought Tiger Woods would always come in first. He always did. Until at last he didn't. We didn't believe it could happen, but we believe it now.
As a reporter since 1960, Art Spander is a living treasure of sports history. A recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award -- given for his long and distinguished career covering professional football -- he has earned himself a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was recently honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the PGA of America for 2009.- - - - - -
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