Stenson Wins; Tiger Falters

Filed in archive Golf News on May 11, 2009

Courtesy: bleacherreport.com

They have been calling it "the 5th major" for some years, now.

Yet, The Players Championship is as far away from becoming golf's fifth major as it was on the day it was conceived.

I'm not sure how a golf tournament of stature climbs the final rung on the ladder to become a major. Perhaps it's like moving to a small town. You can live there for decades and still be regarded as an outsider.

That doesn't diminish the TPC course on which the tournament is played or the great golf that we witnessed last week.

henrik Stenson was in my Masters pool last month. I've long thought the guy had the right stuff to win on the PGA Tour and yesterday he broke through.

It was tough to see Alex Cejka, a fine golfer indeed, blow his 5 shot lead but I put that down more to the tough course than any nerves he might have had.

He still finished higher than his playing partner, didn't he?

And speaking of Tiger Woods, one might be asking the question "what the hell is going on?"

Of course, when asking that about Tiger, keep in mind he has had one victory and 4 top tens since his return in February. And he hasn't played every event, either.

But he seems to have some old swing issues creeping back in. Whenever Woods goes sour with his driver, it's manifested in pushed shots. And that's exactly what happened throughout the tournament, forcing Tiger to rely on his other-worldly recovery game to post some strong numbers.

One wonders if Hank Haney is having any positive effect during Tiger's "comeback".

But I also wonder if Woods is not devoting quite the same amount of time to practice that he did before he had kids.

He now has two children, of course, and I have a sneaking hunch that he makes time in his punishingly busy schedule to be with his family at the expense of practice.

Perhaps not. But then you could ask if he's practicing sufficiently, is he just not playing enough tournaments?

Don't know the answers and maybe they're the wrong questions to begin with.

One thing is certain. You rarely see Tiger drop shots in the final round of a big tournament when he's in the last group and has a chance to win.