Tiger's Game

Tiger (Woods, as if) has a swing to envy, but not to copy. I hate it when teachers, pros, commentators try to get everyone to Be Like Tige...few, if any, have the body -- strength and flexibility -- to make Tigerlike moves even once. And his swing is a complex constellation of compensatory moves that has taken him decades to groove, and alter as his body changed from skinny adolescence to muscular maturity. 

Johnny Miller's comment yesterday (final round at Bay Hill) was spot on: his putting dominance is based more on "guts" than technique. Unlike the pretenders, Tiger doesn't leave putts short very often. Like all great putters, he's still dancing with the same girl, that SC Anser clone, and has not messed with, or up, his stroke.

And the short game: more guts, and technique, and strength. But he's not unbeatable; he actually loses 70% of the time. 

The day's final observation: the dominant players of each previous generation appeared in contrasting pairs: 

• Snead v. Hogan: Snead had the power, and the talent, that Hogan envied, but Hogan had the mental toughness and work ethic (and pure cussedness) that Snead didn't approach. They were both poor kids who valued the money, but Snead seemed to have enjoyed golf more (considering that he was still playing into the last year of his life)
  
• Palmer v. Nicklaus: Arnold was there first, the transformative power hitter who feared nothing, not trees, not long putts, not even young Jack, who hit it further and higher and straighter and smarter. Jack was the first of the rich kids.
• Nicklaus v. Trevino: another talent mismatch, but Trevino knew how to get under Jack's skin, and nobody ever played more smart shots, had more control, or more guts on the green than Lee...but if Nicklaus was playing his best, he was untouchable.
• Mickelson v. Woods: Each was a young phenom (Mickelson won a pro tournament before he turned pro), each was strong, both could putt...but Tiger is Hogan to Phil's Snead. He has the work ethic, the mental toughness, and the mean streak PLUS he has Team Tiger: Stevie, the IMG group, Elin...and Pappy's Ghost. 
• Woods v. ???: Not Els, not Garcia, not Harrington. Some kid, maybe McIlroy.