Some More Thoughts

Focusing on the diss by Thew, I failed to get to a couple of points.

Vijay is clearly the POY in golf. Truth is, he was POY last year, but didn't win. And you can pretty much call the POY for 2005 now. The pool is small: Vijay, Tiger, Ernie, Phil and Retief. And Michelson and Goosen are long shots. I like Els, but I don't see that he has the stuff in him to overtake Singh and Woods.

I think 2005 is a critical year for Tiger. Not in the sense of winning/losing majors, but in the sense of getting back into the game. It seems to me (see posts below) that Tiger has been focusing on other things (Elle, mechanics, Nike ads (gotta love Frank though)). And for the past few years he could coast; play a few events for big $$$; do well in the Majors and major tournaments, but I did not get the sense that he WANTED it anymore. He had the mini-Slam (call it the Slim) and was pretty assured of his place in history. But he seemed to lose the drive, no pun intended.

Reports are that he has found his swing again under Hank Haney's direction. He won in Japan (big whoop), but confidence is what counts. 2005 is about confidence for Tiger. Vijay showed him up. That can't sit well. But how he responds this year will determine how he does in the next five years. My prediction: Tiger will take either the U.S. Open (at Pinehurst) or the PGA Championship (at Baltusrol). Of the two, I say the Open.

As for Michelle Wie, don't expect to hear from her for a while. She certainly has the talent, but read any interview with her and it is painfully obvious that she is still a young girl. And it will take a while for her to consistently beat the talent on the LPGA tour. (Forget the PGA tour.) BTW, I have no problem with an "open" format on the PGA tour - women should be allowed to compete if they are talented enough. I think that siphoning off the top tier of the LPGA would doom that tour, but if taking 25th place in a "men's" event is a better bet then 3rd in the women's event, so be it.

Work calls, gotta jet.