What We're Not Talking About...Tiger's Game

It was 4 months ago when we saw something we hadn't seen before.

It would be wrong to say that Tiger Woods collapsed in the final round of the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. But he seemed stuck in neutral while zero-time Major winner Y.E. Yang out-wanted it against the world’s most transcendent sports hero.

Tiger still had a great year. He won the Fedex Cup and half a dozen tournaments, but no majors. Which of course is his stated goal: To catch and overtake Jack Nicklaus.

And losing the duel with Yang was the greatest indicator that something was wrong. Because golf, more than any other sport is a mental game. It’s about standing alone over a ball and shutting out the world, focusing on one single thing. That’s usually when Tiger wins titles, before the point of contact.

It’s got to be hard to shut out the world when there’s disquiet in your soul. And that may not affect you on the driving range or even at the turn, but it does on the back nine of a Major championship.

And how could Tiger not be in a crisis of conscience while he was deceiving his family in such a distasteful fashion?

Sure plenty of men (and women) in the world have engaged in this kind of behavior and they can go about their lives with nobody knowing the difference. They just don’t have to sink a 12-foot putt in front of a billion people to stay alive on the 71st hole of a Major.

Nothing in sports compares. Maybe, if a guy stands on the foul line with nobody around him and no time left in a playoff elimination game. But even if he fails, there are teammates and a coach to pick him up. A golfer is truly alone with his thoughts.

Tiger has been the master of focus and mental toughness for so long. As a child, his father used to rattle keys next to his ear while he putted. But now he must fight the distractions in his own head which will be infinitely louder.

He’ll need to resolve that before he gets back on track to win Majors. And we will truly see how mentally tough Tiger is.

Is Harrington the Yin to Tiger's Yang?

When Tiger Woods really started to establish himself as the game's dominant force (roughly 10 years ago), a number of would-be challengers have come and gone. And we're still waiting for the Watson to his Nicklaus.


We thought it might be David Duval. Or Ernie Els. Or Vijay Singh. Or Phil Mickelson. All have provided challenges, but none have sustained it. Until now?

Padraig Harrington may be the guy. At 37 years old, he's got the fitness and fortitude to keep up. He's won 3 of the last 9 Majors, though two without Tiger in the field.

Harrington enters PGA Sunday tied for second, just two back from Tiger. But he's not in Tiger's pairing. That's your X factor. Or "Y" factor as the case may be.

That's 37-year old Korean Yong-Eun (Y.E.) Yang. He may be ranked just #110 in the world. But he won the Honda Classic earlier this year, and has two Top 10s and a Top 20 at Bridgestone in his last three starts. He is piling up FedexCup points and in his last 3 final rounds he's shot 68, 67, and 66.

So maybe Yang is the yin to Tiger's yang. Or is he the yang? Before this degenerates into a Abbott & Costello routine (though it's probably too late for that), it's time to remind you that Backtime will provide live updates and perspective from Sunday at Hazeltine.

Harrington tees off at 2:36 ET. Woods and Yang at 2:45. Weather could play a factor.

7:12 ET Final thoughts. I'm not sure I can put it into words, except I am thrilled to have watched this from start to finish. After Tiger's bogey, Yang won by three. As it turns out, a 71 for Tiger would have won it, but he shot 75. Yang shot 70 and made history. Forever Yang!

7:05 ET Yang nailed the birdie putt and celebrated on the green while Tiger, still unfinished, stewed in the background. What a surreal moment.

6:58 ET Asked and answered, counselor. Yang hit the best possible approach. Tiger's in the rough. This is 99.9% in the bag.

6:53 ET Both players hammered their drives on #18. Tiger's was a little better. But remember Kenny Perry couldn't hit an iron on #18 to win the Masters so Yang has a pressure shot coming.

6:49 ET Tiger made a horrible pitch at #17 and made bogey. But Yang made a horrible 1st putt and he made bogey as well. Yang could have put it away, but still goes to #72 leading Tiger by one. Riveting.

6:32 ET Even in standard definition, Yang looks very strong. After a low-maintenance par at #16, Yang still leads by one with only 17 & 18 left.

6:17 ET Peter Kostis just said what I was thinking about Yang, "It's easy to play with nothing to lose when you don't have the lead. Now he's got the lead, it's time to see what he's made of." But sure enough Tiger and Yang both had misplays on the par-5 15th, and both settled for par. Then CBS lost the HD feed.

5:58 ET Wow! The "Tiger" moment came from Yang with a chip-in for eagle on the short par-4 14th. But Tiger didn't concede the trophy on the spot, he made birdie. Yang leads by one with 4 holes to go.

5:47 ET CBS suffered some serious technical glitches. They cleaned up the mess and are back on track, though they didn't acknowledge or apologize for the difficulties. Tiger hit a great tee shot to the par-3 13th, but couldn't convert. Yang scrambled from the sand and remains tied. Yang is proving to be a tough customer, but you have to think the big "Tiger" moment is coming soon.

5:36 ET Tiger came off a rare birdie with some rare trouble on #12, air-mailing the 515 yard #12. He couldn't save par and is tied with Yang for the lead again. The closest in the chase are still 3 behind, and running out of holes.

5:21 ET Neither Tiger or Yang converted on #10, but Tiger finally made his first birdie on the par-5 11th, getting 606 yards in two shots, then a run-of-the-mill 2-putt. He's at -7. Yang is -6. Nobody else closer than -3.

5:02 ET Glover and Lee Westwood are each three shots back and will remain that way, missing birdie putts on their respective par-5s (Glover on #11, Westwood on #15). Tiger and Yang each got lucky bounces on their drives on #10, and both can realistically make birdie.

4:37 ET This championship may be defined by what's transpired on the 8th hole. Henrik Stenson got reasonably close to the lead, but bogied. Glover made bogey. Harrington built a snowman. Tiger found the trap and he made bogey as well - he's two-over for the day. Yang hit the approach of the day on #8, but another no-confidence putt. He's tied for the lead with Tiger again, but noone has wrested the outright lead from him the entire week. Now Soren Kjeldsen is alone in 3rd, two shots back.

4:27 ET Harrington may have had that winning look, but he's still the guy who made an "8" down the stretch last week going mano-a-mano against Tiger. He put it in the water on #8, then botched his shot after the drop, then put a second into the water. Another "8" - all of a sudden Harrington looks less like Tiger and more like Mickelson. It's down to Tiger and Yang.

4:13 ET Yang flirted with tree trouble on #6 but blasted out of it. His birdie attempt lacked confidence. The pressure may be mounting on him. Tiger made another par. Harrington didn't take advantage of the par-5 7th, and has 7 straight pars.

3:57 ET Yang bogied #5, while Tiger churned out a workmanlike par. Harrington just barely missed birdie on #6. Glover dropped a shot, so he's two back. And Tiger is alone at the top again. But Harrington is starting to remind me of Tiger. He exudes confidence in his swing, his walk, and his stare. Think of Robert Patrick in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

3:42 ET For the second day in a row, Tiger 3-putted the par-3 4th. Yang missed his birdie putt by inches, so he's now tied for the lead. Harrington and Glover are just one back.

3:31 ET Tiger has played well, if not great thru 3 holes. And like yesterday, he hasn't been close to any trouble. Harrington has flirted with trouble but has 4 pars. Yang made birdie on 3 and trails Tiger by one. Glover made a 2nd birdie on #5, and he's tied with Harrington at -6, within two.

3:15 ET Tiger was in position for a second straight birdie chance, but didn't convert on the putt. Yang looks rock-solid though it's only been 2 holes. No noise from Harrington. Lucas Glover with the first significant move of the day with a bird on the par-5 3rd, he's within 3 shots.

2:59 ET Tiger missed a great birdie opportunity on #1, sending his short putt wide. Yang played the first hole very solidly. Nobody from the field has made a move toward the top, yet. But you get the idea that another 71 from Tiger won't get it done.

The 2009 PGA Championship: Glory's Last Snooze?

The last time the PGA Championship was played at Hazeltine in 2002, Rich Beem stared down Tiger Woods and Justin Leonard, and shocked the world.

While the event was as memorable as anything I've ever seen in my living room, Beem's dance on 18 was so horrible that the golf gods haven't allowed him to win since.

The next year, Shaun Micheel gave glory his last shot (as good a last shot as any I can remember) for his only tour title.

There have been 5 PGA Championships since. The winners: Singh, Mickelson, Woods, Woods, Harrington. The rich get richer.

Well, the spotlight will be back on Beem for a couple of days as his playing partners are Tiger (going for major #15) and Harrington (defending his title). They tee off Thursday at 8:45 AM.

Beem's breakthough at Hazeltine was his second straight win. He took the now-defunct "International" just two weeks earlier. So he was hot. But now he's been cold for 7 years, making the cut in just 8 of the 25 Majors he's played since.

Beem's only other win in his career was as a rookie in 1999, a season documented in the book Bud, Sweat, and Tees: A Walk on the Wild Side of the PGA Tour by Alan Shipnuck.

It chronicles the lurid tales of Beem and his somewhat legendary caddy Steve Duplantis through that 1999 season, including the improbable win at the Kemper.

Duplantis, who lived recklessly, was killed in January 2008, when struck by a car.

Anyway, I'm still not going with Tiger. I have a hard time pulling for the prohibitive favorite (not counting the Yankees or Obama). I saw in one publication with Woods at 6-5, followed not-so-closely by Mickelson and Harrington at 20-1 each.

I got Kenny Perry. Good enough for 5 wins in the last 2 seasons, including one after he gagged away the Masters. But chances are it will be a big name with no drama. Just in case, I'm leaving Saturday and Sunday open for potential live-blogs.