With the Tiger Woods situation being played again and again in the popular media, I found myself sitting on the fence as to my opinion of his conduct. Initially, I was quite annoyed at his personal behavior — as is my right — but thought if he took the entire year off, worked on his personal conduct and focus on his family, then I would respect a decision where he sacrificed a year of his golf life to rectify his image.  But no…

Tiger chose to return to Augusta and play in the first major of the season. I’ve watched his respective, clearly sincerely apologetic, press conferences and have been marginally impressed. He seems sincere and genuinely introspective but I still wanted him to sacrifice something on the altar of the golf gods. He chose not to.

Unsure if I was going to pull for or against him, I tuned into Saturday’s third-round action to see what was up. It took me all of 30 seconds to begin pulling against Tiger and smiling when he missed a short par putt. Though the action of the weekend isn’t over, I would have to say I’m pulling for the field rather than the spectacular return of Tiger.

But this year’s British Open was something different. Tom Watson, one of golf’s elder statesmen was leading the championship after three rounds and seventeen holes. Arriving at the 18th tee, he needed a par for victory and I was pulling for him with everything I had. I could taste a potential victory. Watson would become the oldest person to win a major, ever. His image would grace every sports magazine and website for months as people revelled in his victory but fate had other ideas.

He missed a 4-foot putt on the 18th to push himself into a playoff with Stuart Cink. At the conclusion of the 4-hole playoff, Watson was a full six shots behind the winner and I’m telling you, it was difficult to watch. I’m sure I, like so many others, saw a guy we all respected, a guy who deserved another championship, just become unable to execute down the stretch. I’m sure the pundits will diagnose his swing, his demeanor, his nuance and even his replacement hip as potential cause but that doesn’t interest me. I’m grateful to have watched Tom Watson fight over the course for the last four days. Though I desparately hoped he would claim his fifth British Open, I wish I could shake his hand, tell him thank you for the memories and maybe even ask him for a lesson or three. Tom Watson is a class act.

Watching the US Open, hosted at Bethpage Black in New York, was a wonderful event. Though some of the early action was rained out, the weekend and the final Monday round was brilliant. Even though I was actively pulling for Mickleson (due to his wife’s recent cancer diagnosis and him being an all-around nice guy) and Duval (how can you not root for this underdog?), I was pretty impressive with Lucas Glover, the eventual winner by two strokes over Mickleson and Duval.

In the second major on the PGA tour this year, Glover kept it together and managed to squeak out a rock solid victory. Meanwhile, his playing partner, Barnes, succumbed to the pressure and lost his game amidst the constant cameras, the huge crowds, and multiple wayward shots. I have to hand it to Glover, he held his mud in the pressure cooker of the US Open and earned his victory. Well done.