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Tailing Tiger Confessions of a British Open pretenderPosted: Wednesday July 17, 2002 1:20 PM
The British Open begins Thursday with Tiger Woods favored to win the third leg of what would be an unprecedented Grand Slam. The sport's runners-up, the cadre of the world's other best golfers -- assuming there really is such a thing -- are already gathering at Muirfield, and one of them unburdened himself, exclusively, to me: OK, I'm one of them. I'm one of the guys supposed to be a prime competitor. How do I feel? Uh, a little edgy. People have stopped feeling sorry for me. They're starting to say that I'm chicken, that all us guys choke around Tiger. Fans admire Tiger, but, hey, it's getting boring for them. They're putting the pressure on me. What's the matter with you, you Sunshine Linkster? But, hey, people, can you try to understand my feelings? I walk out on the course, and everybody is only interested in Tiger. They talk when I putt. They ignore me. But I also know that because of Tiger there are more fans here. There are millions more watching on television. There's more prize money. Tiger can't endorse everything; I get some of his leftovers. Sure, I'm jealous of Tiger, but he's my benefactor. He wins, I win. See, I'm a little conflicted here. I mean, sure, I know the media say me and the other guys don't care enough. Gary Player and Arnold Palmer and the other old-timers claim we got no fire in the belly. But remember, this is golf. What am I supposed to do, bite Tiger like Mike Tyson did Evander Holyfield? Golf isn't football. Golf is about being contained. Too much adrenaline, you bust the next one in the rough. It's interesting, isn't it, that in all the Grand Slams, the only one where another golfer really played Tiger stroke for stroke was the PGA a couple years ago, where a guy named Bob May lost in a playoff. Look, Bob May was a nobody. Bob May, Bob Schmay. He was the 21st century Jack Fleck. He caught lightning in a bottle. He knew it was his chance of a lifetime, so he went for broke. Me and the other top guys, we gotta go about this more sensibly. I don't want to make a fool of myself trying to outshoot Tiger. Listen, in my dreams I beat him, sure. We get to the first tee, narrow fairway, I hit a beautiful drive with a 3-wood. Then Tiger steps up and outdrives me by 20 yards, straighter, with a 2-iron. End of dream. Right away I know I'm playing for the silver medal. Take it to him, the wise guys say. Listen, golf is unlike every other sport. You're not really playing your opponent. When I was a kid, I saw Arthur Ashe play Jimmy Connors at Wimbledon. Connors was supposed to be invincible. Ashe completely changed his game, undressed Connors, and Connors was never the same again. I remember Muhammad Ali when he fought George Foreman in Zaire. Foreman was young, indestructible. Ali ducked, rope-a-doped for eight rounds. Wore Foreman out. Then, bingo, he knocked him out. I can't do that in golf. I can't change speeds on Tiger. I can't double-team him. I can't sack him. This is golf. I can't even trash-talk the guy. And, all right, I'm scared. Everybody thinks: hot-shot world-class competitor. But I'm not a competitor. Not really. I'm a shot-maker. But, like a lot of us, when I've got a chance to win I get scared. Don't laugh; it's easier to lose than to win. Besides, in golf, there's nobody else to take the last shot, to come in from the bullpen. That's the biggest secret in sports, how a lot of the very best of us are scared to win. Or scared to do what it takes to win, anyway. But Tiger isn't, and I know that. I know he's better than me, and I know I haven't got the guts to challenge him. My only hope is that he's human. So maybe he has a bad couple days, and I get lucky. Let's face it. Don't you people understand? There's only one guy playing this week at Muirfield. Tiger. Either he wins or he loses. The rest of us are just the chorus. Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer Frank Deford is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com and appears each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. His new novel, The Other Adonis (Sourcebooks Landmark), is available now at bookstores everywhere. |
