PGA Features

Who's greater than Tiger?

I hope every now and again the golf nuts among us put up a wee 'thank you' to whoever we think is up there, for the satisfaction of living at the same time as the game's greatest ever exponent. Maybe 100 years from now, who knows, perhaps a couple of centuries on (if our planet still exists, that is), the name Tiger Woods will still be mentioned as one of history's stellar sportsmen, greater maybe than Jesse Owens, Don Bradman, Pele, Mark Spitz... feel free to add your own superlative participants.

True, the Arnold Palmer Invitational hardly ranks up there with the world's biggies, but wasn't it fantastic to see an event that had real competition written all over it - right to the final putt? I must confess to abandoning a lot of TV golf these days. And why? Because the one major element that makes sport engrossing is often missing - the nail-biting doubt as to 'who's gonna win'. So often player A has a three-stroke lead with five to play, and you know in your gut that, barring a series of daft errors, he'll pick up the trophy.

Another, darker, admission, is that when the European event, nearing its conclusion, is full of non-Brits crowding the top of the leaderboard (and our best guys have taken the week off anyway), I find I just don't care whether an Indian or Korean, South African or Chilean whose names mean virtually nothing, wins the top prize. That's when the odd jobs about the house assume frightening priority. At least the name Brad Bryant has been around the American circuit for a number of years. Apart from an inspired 2005 when he won twice, the stereotypical golf journeyman had failed to finish in the top 10 for a whole year.

But suddenly, the laconic 45-year-old Texan had turned in three successive rounds of 68, and was tied for the lead with, among others, Mr Woods. Now this was interesting! It became even more absorbing when The Great One somehow managed to three-putt the 10th from...wait for it... could it have been no more than four feet?? The anointed one nudged the ball two-and-a-bit feet past. And - yup - he missed the return. Hallelujah! He's human.

At about the same time, VJ Singh was managing to do the same thing - three-putt the 14th, at which point top NBC mike man, Johnnie Miller, made the season's top statement of the obvious "That was not a good three-putt (then the brain kicked in); "not that there are too many that you like!" Johnny is undoubtedly the top man on the NBC commentary team - which maybe doesn't mean all that much, given that his colleagues are Bob Murphy, Roger Maltbie, Jimmy Roberts and Dan Hicks; the next rivetting comment to come from any of that quartet will be their first. Compare that with CBS, who can boast Feherty and McCord - light years ahead in terms of entertainment and insight.

Meanwhile, back on the Bay Hill course, Tiger was bidding for his 64th USPGA win, which just happens to equal the number garnered by the player Scots christened the Wee Ice Mon in 1953, Ben Hogan. Only two people are ahead of Ben in the victory stakes - Big Jack (73 wins) and the enduring West Virginian with the smooth-as-treacle swing, Sam Snead, who picked up a winner's cheque no fewer than 82 times. Bryant birdied the 15th, tying Tiger, and parred in, including a battling 3 from a greenside bunker at the short 16th.

So - would three rounds of 68 and a closing 67 be good enough to win? Bart (not to be confused with older brother Brad, who was at that time tying the lead in the seniors tour in California, and eventually lost in a play-off) sat in the recorder's room, watching how Tiger played the par-4 18th. A perfect drive left him 170 yards from the green. After much discussion with Kiwi caddie, Steve Williams, the world's No. 1 hit to within eight yards above the hole. Unless you've money to discard, you wouldn't have bet against the putt dropping - even although Tiger, according to the tournament stats, was batting 0 for 21 on putts over 21 feet. As we watched Bryant with the recorders, Johnny Miller uttered the prophetic words: "There's Bart, who surely has a 90% chance of a play-off. Except it's just that the guy putting isn't thinking of a play-off!"

Unerringly the ball followed a route downhill, left to right by a few feet (not the seven feet Ken Brown reckoned, back in the Setanta studio with our Mr Darcy, aka Dominik Holyer), and dived into the hole. Win No. 64, his seventh in succession worldwide, brought some exultant fist-pumping from the genius, Arnie stood greenside with a knowing grin - and Bart looked round as if to say "Well, what d'you expect? It's Tiger!"

One sour note marred the closing stages of the final day. A cretin behind the ropes halfway down the 18th shouted some garbage that sounded like "Go in the water!" as VJ was starting his downswing. Fortunately the Fijian found the green. Miller meekly muttered "That wasn't a good comment by one of the fans, was it?" While Hicks at least went a stage farther with "You wish you had a way of escorting these people off the course immediately." Preferably on the end of a hob-nailed boot.