Alternate Shot: Run of close finishes fun, but not so much for Els - CBSSports.com

fun - Google News Google News

Alternate Shot: Run of close finishes fun, but not so much for Els - CBSSports.com Mar 19th 2012, 21:40 ORLANDO, Fla. -- Each week, CBSSports.com golf writers Steve Elling and Shane Bacon will trade shots on hot-button topics of the day, slinging around facts, opinions and projections in pretty much the same fashion they play the game -- with a certain degree of abandon. It was another incredible finish for the PGA Tour, with eight different players holding or sharing the lead on the final day before Luke Donald won to reclaim the No. 1 ranking. But it was hard not to feel for Ernie Els, no? Elling: I have seen Ernie Els when he's hopping mad and berating his caddie in the parking lot, and even more often watched him positively glow when he's happy and interacting with friends and fans. But never, ever, have I seen the guy look more sideswiped than after making bogeys on the last two holes Sunday to not only blow a lead, but blow the Tampa tournament title and a guaranteed berth in the Masters. I has been a rough few seasons for Els, who outside of that two-victory March madness in 2010, has been mostly an observer as far as winners hoisting trophies. It's easy to admire his moxie, because the guy is making a kamikaze run to try to crack the world top 50 to get a spot in the Masters, playing nearly every week out, including Bay Hill starting Thursday. It's a cruel joke that Augusta National handed out an international invitation to Ryo Ishikawa, who mostly plays against watered-down competition in Japan and has had every opportunity to climb into the top 50 with a fair performance. Els, a three-time major winner, is playing against the best competition around. Bogeys on the last two holes were killers, knocking him out of a playoff and costing him key OWGR ranking points. As it was, he moved up six spots to No. 62, which means he needs a massive rally at Bay Hill to crack the top 50 by Sunday night. Ishikawa missed the cut last week in Tampa and sits exactly at No. 50. He might not need a special exemption for Augusta if he holds that spot through Sunday. If Greg Norman once was awarded an international exemption, why not Els? Bacon: I felt terrible for Els, just because the poor guy looked like he completely forgot how to hit a golf shot the moment he got into competition. Els seemed in control of his golf swing and, for the first time in a while, his putting stroke, but when the wheels started to come off it looked like he had as good a chance to win as you and I. As for the Masters invite, I don't see why they wouldn't toss him an invite. Sure, Ryo is the younger, studlier version, but Ernie has nearly won the tournament a few times and definitely could compete again, especially after this week. I'd like to see Ernie at Augusta, but I think Ishikawa gives the tournament more views and a bigger audience. Is there any rational explanation for the dizzying run of crazy endings the PGA Tour has enjoyed this season? Elling: Yeah, it's pretty easy to connect the dots, at least in the abstract. Never before can anybody recall more guys sitting on the pole position heading into Sunday putting more cars into the wall on the last lap. Sunday, it was Retief Goosen's turn to waste the 54-hole lead, but at least he had a balky back as an excuse, and he'll trundle off later this week for treatment. He joins Bubba Watson, who caved with the third-round lead at Doral, and guys like Kyle Stanley, Charlie Wi and Spencer Levin as fourth-round road kill. Outside of Goosen, the pedigree of those who have caved with the 54-hole lead is pretty slim -- to wit, Watson, Levin, Wi and Stanley had three wins between them. Sundays win in Tampa was all you need to know about the value of experience -- Luke Donald, no stranger to pressure, executed three perfect shots on the playoff to win, in large part because he has been there so often before (Ryder Cup, Disney last year, match play, etc.). With the leaders opening the door, the tour has enjoyed a series of fantastic finishes like in no other season, at least not recently. It has been dizzying. Hope the fans have been paying attention, because there's a lot more to the product these days than just Tiger Woods. Bacon: I think the main reason for all of this is, simply, nobody dominates anymore. The Tiger run is over, and despite Yani Tseng on the LPGA Tour, dominating in golf is a week-to-week endeavor. I think this is how golf will be for years to come, because when you get yourself in a position to win these days, the nerves jump another level because you might not be there again for another year. The New York Times secured an advanced copy of the Hank Haney book on Tiger Woods, and threw more gasoline onto the former No. 1's smoldering personal, physical and private life with a lengthy excerpt. Did anything surprise you? Elling: Not really. It was mostly disappointing in that it reinforced what many had already assumed about Tiger Woods -- the guy has a very hard time telling the truth. Haney asserts that many of the injuries incurred by Woods during their six years together were not caused by jogging, as Woods maintained, but by Woods' dedication to a SEALS-style training regimen that caused his torn ACL injury. Over and over, Woods has withheld or misled the masses -- and we include friends in the equation -- by, shall we say, sandbagging about his physical condition or the events that led to his diminished capacity. Why does he do it? Not sure a parade of psychologists could plumb the depths of his noggin, but as it relates to his peers, Woods has long tried to maintain some sense of invulnerability. With the scandal, his ensuing slump and the details being put forth by his former swing coach, well, everybody knows just how fragile the guy actually is. Turns out, he's more human, if not flawed, than most of the players out there. Bacon: I must say, I'm just about over this Haney book, and I haven't even read it. Gossip about other people, especially high profile athletes, might be necessary at times, but this sure seems like overkill. If I don't have to read another thing about Hank Haney in the near future, I'll be a happy, happy man. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions