Golf is Hard

At this week's Master's, Tiger Woods is the talk of the tournament. Back from his 5 month hiatus due to...well you know what it's due to, Tiger is only 2 shots off the lead. Now, I never root for Tiger. I've thought he was a phony for a long time, and frankly, I felt like rooting for him was a lot like rooting for the Yankees. Tiger's going to win his share of tournaments, and I have accepted that. But this week, I find myself rooting against him more than ever, and I think I finally figured out why...golf is supposed to be hard!

I've been playing golf for 23 years, and I'm not all that good in the grand scheme of things. It's a really hard game to get good at. And here's Tiger, back from 5 months off, and he's probably going to win The Master's. That's not supposed to happen! When a player takes 5 months off, he or she is supposed to struggle for a couple of tournaments while they round back into form. Heck, even us rank amateurs are supposed to struggle. I haven't played golf since November. I'm playing today, and I expect to stink. It's just not right...it's not natural that someone should be able to do what Tiger is doing.

So, I will be on my couch Sunday, rooting the Phil Mickelson (go Phil!) or Anthony Kim (but hopefully Phil) can stop Tiger from doing something nobody should be able to do. And if Tiger wins, like I expect him to, I'll just shake my head. If I've learned anything over the past year and a half, it's that anything can happen...after all, if Barack Obama can be President based on his ability to give a speech, then the best golfer in the world winning a major golf tournament after a long layoff isn't that much of a stretch. But, I for one, hope it doesn't happen.