Here it is ... the REACTION! This shows you how badly Tiger wanted this one.
Why was this one so important? There are lots of possibilities, but here's my take on it. There's a special camaraderie between Tiger and Arnie. Arnie's pride in the kid is almost fatherly. And Tiger expresses a deep affection for the older duffer when the two are face to face.
Arnie was pretty obvious about his desire for Tiger to win his tourney once again. "Get off your butt and go out there and shoot a low score." he ordered Tiger as he left the locker room. Later, on the practice range he walked over and gave him a little more prodding.
At the treacherous 18th,Tiger was preparing to make his 162 yard approach with a 7- iron in his hand, tied with Bart Bryant at -9. As he started to move forward to address his ball, Stevie suddenly stepped up and interrupted him. The wind was gusting and changing directions. And Stevie offered him a 5-iron.
That could be dangerous. There was just a little slip of green with water on the right and a bunker on the left. If the wind should suddenly go quiet, that could send the ball way off into the unknown.
Tiger took the 5-iron. "I hit an aggressive swing to a conservative spot," he later said. It landed 24-25 feet on the left side and behind the hole taking the water in front out of play. He called it his best shot of the week.
This was the moment of truth. Would he birdie this hole and win the tourney? Would he par the hole and move into a playoff with Bryant? Or, would he end up with a bogie and finish in second place. Not many were expecting the third possibility. But many were betting on number two -- a playoff.
It was going to be a tricky putt. It was a downhill slider and everyone except the Tiger was holding their breath as he stepped up and made his putt. The ball moved ever so slowly down the line eventually breaking left to right and trickling into the hole. WOW!
In the meantime, Arnie stood on a rise of ground with some of the officers and other observers. As Tiger moved toward the ball, Arnie predicted that it would drop. When it did, Tiger tore off his hat, slammed it into the turf and let out a rebel yell and a roar that far exceeded anything we have heard out of him before.
When it subsided, Stevie handed him his hat. Tiger looked at the hat in amazement and asked how that got off his head. He had been so caught up in the moment, that his celebration was a blur to him.
A gleeful Arnold Palmer gave him a bear hug and asked, "What else is new?"
No comments:
Post a Comment