2006 Review
Tiger Woods’ decision to sit out this year’s Tour Championship at East Lake put his 2006 PGA Tour season in the books. It also means that his streak of six consecutive Tour triumphs will likely remain in suspended animation until next January 25th. Woods will continue playing tournament golf around the globe this year, but if he follows his recent pattern of skipping the season-opening Mercedes Championships, his next Tour start will be on Thursday morning of the ’07 Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines.
Years from now when people look back at ’06 campaign, they will likely view Tiger’s efforts similarly to his benchmark 2000 campaign – Two majors, nearly $10 million in earnings, passing Byron Nelson with 53 career wins and total dominance in the world rankings – who wouldn’t see it that way? What they might forget is how the entire complexion of the year changed with Tiger sitting on his couch.
Having badly missed the cut in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, his first weekend off in 39 straight majors, Woods flew back to Orlando and “punished” himself by watching every second of the weekend coverage in his home. Back up in New York, Phil Mickelson was positioned to seize control of the golfing world with a third straight major triumph. In the spring he’d dominated in Atlanta (winning by 13 strokes) and outlasted Woods, Fred Couples and others at Augusta. Now as the leading $-winner (Tiger trailed by $1 million after missing time due to his father’s passing) Phil was poised to become the game’s premier figure.
We’ve all witnessed the adrenaline rush Woods feels when he wins a tournament. Never has he experienced such a boost while witnessing other players lose one. To see Mickelson, Montgomerie and Furyk crumble under the Open pressure showed Tiger that he was still in charge. Knowing that the loss would particularly crush Mickelson’s psyche for the rest of the season—and beyond—Woods took command again. Lacking total confidence in his driver, he still drove the Open Championship field into submission at Royal Liverpool with amazing iron play. Then at Medinah he put on a summertime clinic with his putter and secured a 12th major at the PGA. More victories followed and the pursuers were once again a shrinking image in his rearview mirror.
We all grew up having our parents tell us that watching too much television could stifle your ability to learn. Here’s once instance where staring at the tube proved to be extremely beneficial.
