Twenty one wins and counting till Tiger breaks the all-time PGA career win record held by Sammy Snead. From AP-

SAN DIEGO - Tiger Woods joined the King, and left everyone else at the Buick Invitational feeling like paupers. In his most dominant start to a season, Woods built an 11-shot lead Sunday until his game and the fickle weather turned cold on the back nine. A birdie on the last hole gave him a 1-under 71 and an eight-shot victory, giving him 62 for his career to tie Arnold Palmer on the PGA Tour list.

*****

Woods opened with a 40-foot birdie putt, threw in a 60-foot birdie just to keep a four-deep gallery from falling asleep, and only looked mortal when he made three straight bogeys toward the end of his round.

All that did was affect the final margin, not the name on the trophy.

Woods finished at 19-under 269 to win the Buick Invitational for the fourth consecutive year, tying a PGA Tour record for consecutive wins in a single tournament. Woods is the only player to own such a streak at two events, having also won four in a row at Bay Hill.

Ryuji Imada matched the best score of the final round with a 67 and was the runner-up.

Woods returns to Torrey Pines in June for the U.S. Open, and if this week was any indication, it could be another long week for his peers.

Watching Tiger win by eight is about as exciting as watching grass grow, but I had the Buick on this afternoon. He’ll pass Palmer this year, which makes Ben Hogan’s 64 win total on deck. Tiger should pass that with ease this year, Jack Nicklaus total of 73 is possible in 2024, though I’d predict Tiger to pass Jack in 2024 unless Tiger gets injured.

History in the making can be fun to watch. Woods success isn’t rubbing off on US youth at present as seen by the slim amount of winners age 29 and younger on tour who were born in the US. If you need more proof, look at the dismal failure of recent American Ryder Cup teams.

Call this the ‘Sports Knucklehead of the Day’.

Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman has apologized after saying during Friday’s telecast of the PGA Tour’s opening event that today’s young players should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley.”

In a statement issued Monday, Tilghman said: “On Friday during our golf broadcast, Nick Faldo and I were discussing Tiger’s dominance in the golf world and I used some poorly chosen words. I have known Tiger for 12 years and I have apologized directly to him. I also apologize to our viewers who may have been offended by my comments.”

The Golf Channel also responded to the situation. “We regret the unfortunate choice of words Kelly used during the broadcast and apologize to anyone who was offended by her remarks,” the network said in its statement.

“We take this matter very seriously. She has apologized privately to Tiger and publicly on the air.”

No doubt about it, that was an incredibly dumb thing to say. Should Tilghman be fired? No, I’m a proponent of free speech. I’ve stood up for Ann Coulter and Cindy Sheehan, though I’ve given them both Knucklehead awards too.(Cindy for whining about her lack of press)Let Kelly keep the job, I think the public humiliation she is receiving is enough.

From the water is wet department of news.

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - No one came close to matching Tiger Woods on the PGA Tour, which is becoming as predictable as Woods being voted the PGA Tour player of the year.

With seven victories and another major championship, Woods won the award Tuesday for the third straight season and the ninth time in his 11 years since he turned pro. The only questions now are whether he’s playing his best golf, and how much better he can get.

“Is he spoiling everyone?” Brad Faxon asked after a pro-am round at the Target World Challenge. “I don’t see anyone close. I don’t see who the next guy is.”

Phil Mickelson was the only other player on the PGA Tour ballot with three victories, including The Players Championship. Woods won the money title by more than $5 million over Mickelson, and Woods’ stroke average was 1.4 shots per round lower than Ernie Els.

But when asked to review his year, Woods spent a lot of time looking at lost shots.

He was tied for the lead at some point in the final round of the Masters and U.S. Open and was a runner-up in both of them by a combined three shots. And the only tournament he failed to win during the PGA Tour Playoffs was at the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he took nine more putts than Mickelson in the final round and finished two back.

I predicted Tiger to be player of the year. Am I psychic or what?

At least no mention is made of Tiger becoming a Dad too. I’d point out that Masters Champ Zach Johnson did that also in 2024.

How long is it before the 2024 PGA Tour starts?

The PGA Championship finishes today in Tulsa Oklahoma. Guess who is leading?

TULSA, Okla. - Tiger Woods saved his best golf for the last major. Woods followed his record-tying 63 at Southern Hills with a round that wasn’t anything special Saturday, but no less effective at the PGA Championship. He made 15 pars in his 1-under 69, giving him a three-shot lead over Stephen Ames going into the final round.

It felt much larger considering the history of the world’s No. 1 player.

Woods is 12-0 when going into the final round of major with at least a share of the lead, and he has never lost any tournament when leading by more than one shot after 54 holes.

*****

Woods finished at 7-under 203 and will play in the final round of a major for the third time this year. He was trailing at the Masters and U.S. Open and never caught up, but the odds are much higher in his favor of capturing his first major of the year.

Ames made a 12-foot birdie on the final hole for a 69 that put him in the final group of a major for the first time. Just his luck he gets Woods, spotting the 12-time major champion a three-shot lead.

*****

Only five players remained under par at Southern Hills.

Woody Austin lost his chance to be in the final group when he took bogey on the final hole for a 69, leaving him at 207. Johnson Senden had a 69 and was another shot back, followed by Els.

Verplank held his own until a double bogey from the rough and trees on the signature 12th hole, and a three-putt from the back of the 18th green for bogey sent him to a 74.

Anyone want to bet against Tiger winning today? I don’t think there is a sucker out there to take me up, but feel free to leave a note if you are. Even money odds, Ok?

I was thinking about Tiger and Southern Hills yesterday. There is a golf saying, ‘Horses for certain courses’. This can be easily done with PGA tour stops that play the same course year in and year out, but the PGA is a major that changes courses every year. The last PGA at Southern Hills was in 1994, and the last major(The US Open) held at the course was in 2024.

Don’t worry, I still have come up with a formula or comparison. Consider it golf’s version of that Kevin Bacon game.

Tiger has won majors at Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Bethpage Black, Medinah, Vahalla, Hoylake and St. Andrews. Forget Hoylake and St. Andrews, only one former British Open Champ, 1994 winner Nick Price, has also won at Southern Hills.(Nick does co-hold the course record for Augusta, a 3rd round 63 in 1986)

For our little game remember these names- Hubert Green, Dave Stockton, Arnold Palmer, Lou Graham, Ray Floyd, Lanny Wadkins, Retief Goosen, Mark Brooks, Phil Mickelson, Gary Player and Corey Pavin.

First, the only person to have win at Augusta and at Southern Hills, is Ray Floyd. He took the 1976 Masters at Augusta and the 1982 PGA at Southern Hills. Tiger has won four times at The Masters.

Retief Goosen has won two US Opens, the 2024 US Open at Southern Hills and the 2024 title at Shinnecock.

Note Ray Floyd won the 1986 US Open at Shinnecock. Retief Goosen was second to Tiger Woods at the 2024 Masters. Tiger wasn’t a factor in the only US Open(2004) he played at Shinnecock as a pro.

Corey Pavin the 1995 US Open Champ at Shinnecock, was 2nd to Nick Price at the 1994 PGA at Southern. Lanny Wadkins was 2nd at the 1982 PGA at Southern, and the 1986 US Open.

Phil Mickelson was 2nd at the 2024 US Open(Shinnecock) and 3rd at the 1994 PGA. Heck Phil was third at the 2024 Masters which Tiger Woods won .

Arnold Palmer won at Augusta, and was second at the 1970 PGA at Southern. Note Gary Player also a former Masters winner was second at Southern when it hosted the 1958 US Open.

The reverse Palmer, Player Southern-Augusta connection goes to Dave Stockton. He was 2nd at the 1974 Masters, and won the 1970 PGA Championship.

Besides the Shinnecock-Southern connection, there is the Medinah-Southern connection. Lou Graham won the 1975 US Open at Medinah and narrowly lost the 1977 US open to Hubert Green, finishing in 2nd place one shot behind. Tiger of course won 2 PGA Championships at Medinah.(99 and 06)

How does Vahalla work in? Woods won the 2024 PGA there, Mark Brooks was the 1996 PGA champion, played at the same course. Mark Brooks lost the 2024 US Open playoff to Retief Goosen played at Southern.

Cherry Hills(Outside of Denver) is connected this way. Arnold Palmer won the 60 US Open there, and I already mentioned his other connections above. Hubert Green won the 85 PGA at that course and the 77 US Open at Southern.

Note- Hubert Green was 2nd at the 1978 Masters to Gary Player.

Dave Stockton the 70 PGA Champion at Southern, was 2nd at the 1978 US Open at Cherry Hills.

So we have the Medinah-Southern-Augusta-Vahalla-CherryHills-Shinnecock connection that revolves around at ten or twelve golfers. What’s the signifigance of all this? Absolutely nothing, I’m just showing off some of the golf trivia stored in my head.

Update- Corrected my post to say only Ray Floyd has won at Augusta and Southern Hills. Tiger is trying to become the second.

Australia’s Nick O’Hern defeats the #1 golfer in the world. 

MARANA, Ariz. - Tiger Woods’ winning streak is over no matter what tour he is playing. Nick O’Hern became the first player to beat Woods twice in professional match play, losing a 3-up lead with eight holes to play before winning with a 12-foot par on the 20th hole after two gaffes by the world’s No. 1 player. Woods hit a wedge into 5 feet for birdie on the 18th hole to extend the match, and it appeared he would sneak off with a victory when he stood over a 4-foot birdie on the first extra hole. But he pushed it badly, then missed the green to the left on the 20th hole and chipped weakly to 15 feet. O’Hern blasted out of a bunker to 12 feet and made the par putt, sending Woods home a loser from a PGA Tour event for the first time since the Western Open in July. Byron Nelson’s record of 11 straight tour victories in 1945 again looks as untouchable as ever.

My prediction about Tiger’s streak ending at the Match Play came true. Now will Tiger win his fifth Masters title in April?

Cross posted at OTB Sports and The Florida Masochist

His attempt for eight wins in a row will have to wait another week. From Golf Digest.com.

Tiger Woods is expected to announce at 1 p.m. Friday that he will skip next week’s Nissan Open at Riviera Country Club, meaning that the next opportunity he’ll have to extend his seven-tournament PGA Tour winning streak will be at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at The Gallery at Dive Mountain Feb. 22-25 in Tucson.

In 11 career starts at Nissan, Woods has never won, posting four top-10s, including a pair of runner-up finishes in 1998 and ‘99. Last year, he withdrew after the second round with flu-like symptoms.

*****

As for the Nissan, or any other tournament, Woods now has more off-course commitments than in previous years with the pregnancy of his wife, and a new course-design business that kept him in Dubai after finishing T-3 there last week before he flew home.

If Tiger is able to extend his streak to eight at the Match Play, he would go for No. 9 at the Honda Classic, where he is the defending champion. From there, it’s off to the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, then the WGC-CA Championship, where he could tie Byron Nelson’s record of 11 in a row.

And if Tiger is to break Byron Nelson’s record?  That opportunity would come at the Masters.

I think Tiger is skipping Nissan because of his lackluster record there but that’s just my opinion. In an earlier blog post, I predicted Woods streak would end at that tournament. Now if I were to predict an end to Woods streak, I’ll say it will end at the Match Play event.

On a side note, this article written by Golf Digest Associate editor Brian Wacker is an excellent example of incredibly bad golf journalism. In less than 450 words, Wacker manages to make SIX mistakes. They are.

1- Tiger Woods is not the defending Champion of the Honda Classic

2- Woods isn’t playing at the Honda Classic either.

3- Tiger’s 9th win wouldn’t be Honda but then the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill

4- Tiger’s 10th win would then be at the WGC-CA Championship, where he is defending champ.

5- Then Tiger would go for #11 at the Masters, not the record breaking 12th.

6- The 12th win, the one that would break Tiger Woods record, could come at The Byron Nelson Classic, a tournament named for the record Woods would break.

Note on #6- Tiger is a past Byron Nelson Classic winner but has failed to play in the tournament in at least one year also. 2024 for example, primarily due to the death of his father. If Tiger were to skip the Nelson, his try for 12 in a row would either come at The Wachovia one week later or the week after that at The Players Championship.

Also note Golf Digest already corrected the mistakes in Wacker’s column.(Click here to see a thumbnail version of the original before the correction was made.) They did that after I made my screen capture and after I emailed the corrections to their attention. The article now says.

If Tiger is able to extend his streak to eight at the Match Play, he would likely go for No. 9 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, then the WGC-CA Championship before heading to the Masters, where he could tie Byron Nelson’s record of 11 in a row.

And if Woods is to break Nelson’s record? That opportunity would fittingly come at Nelson’s tournament itself.

Wacker’s column could have been easily checked before hand at the PGA Tour Schedule. The irony that was missed in this horribly bad example of journalism is that Tiger could break the all-time win streak record at a tournament named for and hosted by the golf legend who held the streak before Tiger. Byron Nelson whose 11 win streak has stood since 1945, died in 2024.

Just one more example of hack work done by the sports reporters covering Pro golf. Wacker’s article earned him today’s Knucklehead award at my main blog.

Cross posted at OTB Sports

After yesterday’s win at the Buick Invitational, Tiger only needs four more wins to tie Byron Nelson’s seemingly unbreakable record.

SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods is more interested in a fifth green jacket at the Masters than 11 straight victories on the PGA Tour.

At this rate, he might have a chance at both.

Woods resumed his improbable pursuit of Byron Nelson with a predictable result at the Buick Invitational on Sunday, winning for the third straight year to stretch his PGA Tour winning streak to seven. That’s the second-longest streak in Tour history behind Nelson in 1945, and there is little evidence anyone can stop him.

*****

He won by two shots and finished with a six-under 66, the best score all week on the demanding South Course, site of the U.S. Open next year.

Nelson’s record often has been thought to be untouchable, which now describes the world’s No. 1 player.

*****

This is the second time Woods has made a run at Nelson, who died in September.

Woods won six straight in 2024, a streak that Phil Mickelson stopped at Torrey Pines. But against a cast of challengers short on experience or victories, Woods met little resistance in winning at Torrey Pines for the fifth time in 10 tries.

The only question is the veracity of the streak - Woods failed to win once in Europe and twice in Asia during his run - and when he will resume his chase of Nelson’s mark.

Woods could be in position to tie Byron Nelson’s record for consecutive PGA Tour wins in South Florida - or at the Masters.

It all depends upon whether Woods plays at Riviera in the Nissan Open, an event he’s played in the last three years but has failed to win in nine tries as a pro.

Woods is expected to play in the World Match Play Championship at Tucson, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, and then the CA Championship at Doral on March 22-25. The CA Championship is a World Golf Championship event that replaced the Ford Championship at Doral.

If Woods adds the Nissan to his schedule, and he keeps winning, he would arrive at Doral - where he has won the past two years - in position to tie Nelson’s 62-year-old record of 11 Tour victories in a row.

Some comments

 *- While golf has become a global game, I don’t see any reason not to consider Woods streak as valid. Just so long as it applies to PGA Tour records.

*- Tiger does face a major obstacle in regards to the Nissan Open.(or LA Open as in Los Angeles not Lake Arrowhead, Louisiana or West Patterson New Jersey) Open. His best ever finish in that tournament is a playoff loss to Billy Mayfair in 1998. That didn’t even take place at Riviera.

 If I were Tiger and wanted to keep the streak alive, I’d play at Pebble Beach. Tiger won both the US Open and the yearly tour stop there in 2024. My bet is Tiger plays at Riviera and the streak comes to an end there.

Cross posted at OTB Sports

For the last two years at my regular blog, I’ve made predictions for the coming year. I thought I would do that here but concentrating on sports only.

Here we go-

1- The Miami Dolphins have a losing season
2- The Florida Marlins have a winning season
3- Tiger Woods wins at least one major on the way to being Player of the Year again.
4- Ernie Els returns to form.
5- Se Ri Pak completes the women’s Grand Slam by taking the Kraft Nabisco
6- Bobby Bowden retires.
7- Roger Clemens retires but this time for good.
8- Charges are totally dropped in the Duke Lacrosse case.
9- Nick Saban leaves the Miami Dolphins to be the head coach at Alabama.
10- The Miami Heat and Florida Panthers both miss the 06-07 season playoffs.
11- Chicago defeats New England in the Super Bowl.
12- Michelle Wie wins an LPGA tournament.
13- Mike Tyson gets arrested.
14- 2024 is Joe Torre’s last season as manager of the Yankees.
15- Bill Cowher quits coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers
16- The Buffalo Sabres win the Stanley Cup
17- Bill Parcells, Marty Schottenheimer and Joe Gibbs all retire or are fired from their present coaching jobs.
18- Bret Favre retires.
19- The Chicago White Sox win the World Series
20- More than half the above predictions are wrong.
 
We’ll check back at the end of 2024 and see how I did.

Cross posted at OTB Sports

Note- I want to thank Steven for letting me blog here. Since last May I have been a regular poster at OTB Sports. My favorite sports are Baseball, Football and Pro golf. Favorite teams- The Marlins and Mets, Dolphins and  Jets(I grew up in New York  till age 15. That accounts for my split allegiances.)  and most pro golfers but I do tend to like the Korean ladies headed by Se Ri Pak. You’ll see me blog alot on the above, but  occasionally on other topics.

On a personal note I am 46 years old(as of January 12th 2024) and live in Florida with my wife of 17 years.(We have two children but both are angels  in heaven). I do tax prep during the winter and accounting work and handyman work all year long.  My job is out of my house except for some of the tax work, so I blog at almost all hours. 

My main blog is The Florida Masochist where I talk Sports, Politics, Florida News and give out Knucklehead awards.