Tiger in a losing race with time
For awhile it looked like the brink of a comeback, then ...
CARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND — All around him on a windy summer day on the links of Carnoustie, the leaders were imploding as Tiger Woods moved into the lead at the turn.
It felt like old times at the British Open, as familiar as his Sunday red shirt and the swarm of fans that cheered his every shot.
Then Woods imploded, too, and there’s something that’s become increasingly familiar about that.
If this was the Woods of 15 years ago, he likely would be “the champion golfer of the year,” as they say over here, and have his name on the claret jug a fourth time.
The fans felt this could be the culmination of the comeback.
Twitter told late-rising Americans to get to their screens.
And fans at church services checked the scores from Scotland incredulously.
But what felt like old times for a brief moment ended up as just another collapse story, like the ones Woods’ fans have seen more recently.
Francesco Molinari, Woods’ partner on Sunday, won the tournament with no bogeys over the final 37 holes. Woods finished tied for sixth.
Woods flinched when it mattered most, the nerves of a 42year-old on display for all to see.
“A little ticked off at myself, for sure,” Woods said.
It used to be that Woods was steely and superhuman. Now he’s more of a nostalgia act.
“He wouldn’t tell you, but he’s human,” Jordan Spieth said.
“That kind of pressure that he would have felt leading the Open on a Sunday is no different than anybody else, especially having not experienced it for so long.”
Spieth had his own issues, of course, kicking away a share of the lead on his way to a fat 76 in the final round.
But Spieth is a 24-year-old with three major titles and many years to get more.
Woods is in a race against time — and that’s a race no one ever seems to win.
“It didn’t feel any different,” he insisted. But it was different, as different as his bald spot is to the full head of hair he had in his prime.
It wasn’t like the course wasn’t
gettable. Molinari didn’t make a bogey on his way to a 69 while playing alongside Woods. A Brit named Eddie Pepperell shot 67 with a hangover to end up tied with him.
“Sometimes I have a few drinks,” said Pepperell, who finished as Woods was in the lead. “Tiger is minus-7, he didn’t have a drink last night, I bet. Proper athlete.”
Of that there is little doubt. Woods looks as strong as he did in his prime, even though he’s had surgeries, a sex-scandal, a divorce and a drug-related DUI.
But good muscles don’t mean calm nerves. And throughout his comeback year Woods has misfired every time he has gotten
near contention. It might be because there is so much at stake.
Woods embraced his two children, telling them he hoped they were proud of him for trying hard.
“It’s pretty emotional because they gave me some pretty significant hugs. I know that they know how much this championship means to me ...,” he said.
“To me, it’s just so special to have them aware because I’ve won a lot of golf tournaments in my career, but they don’t remember any of them.”
It was a tender moment between a father and his kids, but also another reminder that Father Time waits for no one.
Not even Tiger Woods.