The Sports Monitor

Tiger Woods always is the story, isn't he? He was in control of the Masters Friday when things went awry. By now you heard what happened, and have heard all sorts of opinions whether he should have been penalized or not, and whether he should have been disqualified. My point today is if Tiger is the dominant golfer everyone wants him to be, he still would have won the Masters. If he had regained whatever it is he lost, he would have won. He would have used all the detractors as fuel to win. And maybe he tried. He's just not the same golfer. The chase for Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 majors continues, but Woods remains four back. I'm not sure he gets there.

I watched the Masters last week and couldn't believe the outbursts by Tiger Woods. Was I surprised? No. He's been doing it for a while, but I thought Woods could have shown a little more restraint and decorum. I don't recall a golfer who consistently gets upset and displays it as much as Woods does. He expects every shot to be perfect, every putt to find the hole. The problem is, it's golf. You can't be perfect. While I was rooting for Phil Mickelson (I expected a meltdown and got it) and was amazed by Bubba Watson's shot that set up his playoff win, I couldn't help but compare Woods to John McEnroe. Mac was the best in tennis at one time. He wasn't as dominant for as long as Woods was, but his touch around the net and shotmaking was brilliant. Oh, there was that temper, too. Woods has that same temper. It seems that with each passing day, there could be a growing audience in golf to see if Woods explodes on the course. That number migh...