I attended the final round of the Buick Invitational last Sunday. I had purchased my ticket online a few days in advance because it was only $15.00. Tickets at the gate were $30.00. Seemed like a no brainer until I woke up Sunday morning to some of the worst weather I have seen since moving to Southern California. Despite the weather I wasn’t going to let $15.00 in tickets go unused. I am retarded that way. It was cold, windy and raining when I left home. As we approached La Jolla the down pour turned to a drizzle. Blue sky appeared over the pacific horizon and the sun periodically appeared from behind the high clouds.

The reason I bring any of this up is because the inclement weather kept the huge crowds away for the early part of the day, which allowed me and a few others an up close and unobstructed view of Tiger Woods. The photo insert shows Tiger on the 11th green after making a sweeping right to left 35 foot birdie putt to give him a 10 stroke lead. I am standing just to the right outside edge of the photo frame with a perfect look at Tiger’s view. It was a thing of beauty. A master working his craft.

Consider this; Tiger Woods is up 9 strokes with 8 holes to play. The tournament winner has been determined - it was over Saturday afternoon for that matter. The rest of the field is jockeying for 2nd place. Tiger spent as much time studying that seemingly impossible putt as he would if he were finishing the Masters at Augusta on the 18th. His competitive spirit, physical skill and mental toughness make him by far the best golfer in the world today. It is only a question of when and by how much he will break hollowed records held by the great ones Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. He now has 62 PGA tour victories, 13 of which are majors.

He is the second most remarkable and influential athlete of my lifetime. Muhammad Ali is still ‘The Greatest’.

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