TIGER WOODS IS BACK! Who would have thought this statement would have ever been stated again given his injury ridden past along with the 2009 meltdown?
Well, here we are and it could not have come at a better time. Sunday evening in Atlanta, Georgia, the 42-year-old defied all odds and won the Tour Championship, his first PGA Tour win in over five years. What made this win at the East Lake Golf Club special was the movie scene walking up the 18th fairway as McIlroy and Woods were laughing and witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in the modern era.
Thousands of fans were following the Stanford alum up to the putting green on the final hole of the PGA season and nobody could have scripted what took place. Chants of TIGER, TIGER, TIGER echoed across the entire country and Woods nearly broke down in tears before his birdie putt. A finish that was something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Woods led the Tour Championship after his first day 65, followed by a 68 Friday and a remarkable 65 on moving day that included six birdies through the first seven holes. He entered Sunday with a four stroke lead and an outside shot of winning the FedEx Cup playoffs, but he needed a lot of help. Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas had to finish outside of the top-2, Keegan Bradley had to finish worse than second, and Tony Finau had to finish outside of third place while Justin Rose had to finish inside the top-5.
Everything went according to plan and Tiger had to dodge one more bullet on his way to the title. Rose had a brutal front nine and at one point was sitting in seventh place. His bogey on 16 made for great TV and his missed birdie putt on 17 set up for a dramatic finish. He needed a birdie on 18 to finish in 5th place and to win the FedEx Cup and it was his best hole of the weekend by far. On in two, two putt birdie, $10 million prize along with bragging rights heading into the Ryder Cup. Not a bad weekend for the Englishmen himself, but the real story was Tiger.
Although Woods didn’t win the yearly playoff, he is now the most feared man in golf just in time for the epic Ryder Cup showdown in Paris, France this weekend. After failing to play for Team USA in 2016 at Hazeltine, Tiger and America will be a heavy favorite as they try to win on European Soil for the first time in 25 years.
USA is hungry to retain the title and they will be led by the greatest player to ever swing a golf club who is chomping at the bit to prove to everybody that last weekend wasn’t a fluke and he is here to stay for a few more years to come.
Enjoy it, Tiger. It is only just the start of something special!
Ranking the Greatest Comebacks in Sports
Tiger’s win on Sunday got me to thinking; what are some of the greatest sports comebacks in my lifetime?
Below are my top-5 epic comebacks that shook the country.
5- 2010-Auburn defeats Alabama 28-27
Cam Newton rallied the Auburn Tigers from down 24-0 in Tuscaloosa after one of the greatest second half performances of his collegiate career. Newton pulled it off on the road in the Iron Bowl, and also secured a BCS Title berth and the Heisman Trophy in doing so. Incredible.
4-2010 Flyers defeat Bruins 4-3 in Conference Semi Finals.
Trailing 0-3 in the seven game series and three to nothing after the first period in Game 7, the Broad Street Bullies rallied from behind to stun the Boston Bruins in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. They became the third NHL team to pull of the 0-3 comeback in history.
3-2016 New England defeats Atlanta 34-28 in the Super Bowl
After trailing 28-3 towards the end of the third quarter, Tom Brady and Co. orchestrated the largest Super Bowl comeback in history. They rallied behind a few key defensive stops, and one of the best to ever do it brought the troops back to tie in the final minute and then won it on the first drive of OT.
2- 2016 Cleveland defeats Golden State 4-3 in NBA Finals
The Cavs trailed 3-1 in the series and a Draymond Green kick to the thigh forced the Warriors to play short-handed in Game 4 (the turning point). Klay Thompson called out LeBron and the rest is history. The King averaged a 30-plus point triple-double from that moment on and the Cavs took the next three, including two at Oakland to win Cleveland’s first title since the 1960’s.
1 – 2003 Boston Red Sox defeat New York Yankees 4-3 in ALCS
One of the greatest rosters ever assembled held a 3-0 lead in the series and were seeking their third straight World Series appearance. The Yankees had a chance to sweep on the road at Fenway in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and no runners on. Mariano Rivera was on the mound and it seemed like a foregone conclusion. A blooper to center field put the Sox on first and Dave Roberts stole second and eventually another single tied it. The Sox walked off an inning later and eventually won the next three games to later end the 100-year curse of the Bambino and win the World Series.
NFL Week 3
From stunning upsets to season ending injuries to video game numbers yet again, it was another wild weekend in the National Football League.
In a game that was a sure-fire lock to hit the over, Patrick Mahomes led the Kansas City Chiefs to another double digit victory over Jimmy Garappolo and the Niners. The second-year pro threw for another three touchdowns in the first half and the Chiefs were up huge at recess. He continued his video game stat line and now has the record for most passing touchdowns through the first three weeks with 13. Stay hot Patty!
On the other hand, Jimmy Guap was orchestrating a second half comeback of his own and pulled San Francisco within 10, but not before deciding to fight for extra yards and not run out of bounds, tearing his ACL. The Niners not only lost the game but also their franchise QB for the year. A promising end to 2017 set up for a potential run at the postseason, but that is now an afterthought as the crimson and gold have lost both their starting running back and quarterback to ACL injuries in 2018.
My Minnesota Vikings were 17 point home favorites against the depleted Buffalo Bills and laid one of the biggest eggs in Minneapolis history this past Sunday. Rookie QB Josh Allen led the Bills to 17 first quarter points after two Kirk Cousins fumbles gave them possession in the Red Zone. The seventh overall pick this past April was shredding our defense with his legs and literally hurdled Anthony Barr at midfield. He literally hurdled him…when the hell is the last time we have seen this from a signal caller? I have no clue.
The Vikes offensive line has plenty of issues right now and they cannot seem to give Cousins time or running backs any holes. Everson Griffen did not play and his mental state is not doing well. This is a significant loss for the team as he led the Vikes in sacks a year ago and is a critical piece to that defense. I hope he seeks the help he needs as this is a serious issue that I hope he can overcome. I wish you the best EG, get well!
Green Bay also lost on the road in Washington, but not without controversy surrounding Clay Matthews once again. This time it was for a sack where he was flagged for roughing the passer. Once again, he was called for driving the QB into the turf, however, in my opinion; it was just a football tackle. Sure, he landed on Alex Smith, but should it have been flagged? I don’t think so and neither did Packers head coach Mike McCarthy who looked like he was going to obliterate the ref. And, yet again, the NFL backed the call on the field…shocker!
This NFL rule is getting out of hand again for the third straight week and the league is meeting to discuss it further today. I get it, I really do. The league wants its stars on the field. They want the Aaron Rodgers versus Tom Brady on Sunday Night Football, they want Hollywood. They most certainly do not want Deshone Kizer versus Trevor Siemian. But…jobs are being impacted by this rule. Field position is being altered and teams are struggling to figure out just how to approach the quarterback.
I agree that lifting and driving a QB should be a flag or hitting him low or even late for that matter, but the ones that really piss me off are the ones like Matthews is getting or the one that Jason Pierre-Paul was called for on Monday Night Football in which he tapped Big Ben on the helmet and he rolled around like Neymar at the World Cup. The NFL better figure it out soon and before the players decide to hold out against the refs as it was the opposite in 2012 (although that was for money and had nothing to do with flags!).
The Lions took down the Patriots Sunday night, handing Tom Brady and Bill Belichick their first back-to-back double digit losses since 2002 (last time Tom has missed the playoffs). The two have been rumored to be in a feud and it showed mid-way through the first half where Tom was yelling and tossing his helmet on the sideline.
The offense has been nonexistent and Rob Gronkowski is even rattled. It could be turning around soon as the Pats traded for Josh Gordon last week and they return Julian Edelman in Week 5 from a suspension. The defense has holes all over and the secondary can’t even help cover the spread. I wouldn’t say it is time to panic in New England, but when a former coach beats Bill on a big time stage (rarely happens; congrats Matt Patricia), then it could be the start of the end in Foxborough.
The NFC North looks nothing as predicted. The Bears are in first place after scoring only four offensive touchdowns in three games. The Vikes and Pack are tied for second at 1-1-1, and the Lions are in last at 1-2.
Baker Mayfield led a comeback against the Jets, but I won’t be too quick to give him this “elite” status that many have tagged him with. Yes, he helped the Browns win their first game since Christmas time 2016, but it was against a depleted Jets defense that ranks 29th in total defense, the franchise was playing its third game in 10 days and nobody expected Tyrod to leave mid-game. New York had zero tape on the rookie and a fumble in the third quarter gave the 2017 Heisman the ball on the Jets’ eight yard line.
A win is a win, and tip of the cap to Baker, but I won’t be giving him credit until I see him carve a defense at the pro level like he did in the first half against Georgia on New Year’s Day.
Shark Attack out West
The 2018 NHL season is right around the corner and the Washington Capitals will look to claim their second Stanley Cup in as many years…if they aren’t still hungover beyond the All-Star break!
On the other side of the country on the West Coast, San Jose failed to land John Tavares in July, but took a huge bite this past weekend when the Pacific water was the warmest. The Sharks pulled off a blockbuster trade for the league’s best defenseman, Erik Karlsson.
The two-time Norris Trophy winner will now lead the deepest blue line in the entire league that consists of Karlsson, 2016-17 Norris winner Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Justin Braun and Joakim Ryan. PSA: good luck getting behind this back-end.
The trade marked the final stage of the Ottawa Senators rebuilding project, but now San Jose will be a heavy favorite to come out of not just the Pacific Division, but the Western Conference. They have depth up front and a steady goaltender in Martin Jones, and they will look to build off of a Stanley Cup run in 2016 and a second round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in April heading into 2018.
If the Swedish defenseman can stay healthy then I don’t know who will beat this roster. But that is a big “if.” He has an injury ridden past, but he will definitely not have to play the same amount of minutes as he did in Ottawa. San Jose ranked T-9 in goals against per game and 13th in goals for a season ago, and the addition of Karlsson will only improve these numbers and also add to a power play that ranked 15th in 2017-18.
Clemson’s Fabio
One of the nation’s most highly touted freshmen prospects has been officially named the starter for Clemson University. First-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence has taken the reins over from the 2017 ACC Champion Kelly Bryant for Saturday’s tilt against Syracuse.
The news to me wasn’t quite shocking and I have said before that he will take over and should take over by Halloween, but I did not think that Dabo Swinney was going to make the move this soon, however. What makes the case even more interesting is that Bryant failed to attend practice Tuesday and stated that he was transferring this morning.
We saw this with Tua and Jalen Hurts at Alabama, although Hurts decided to stick it out. Quarterbacks are getting better and you must simply perform at your highest potential every single week. Although in Clemson’s case it was quite unique as Bryant wasn’t “struggling,” he just wasn’t given enough rope to get into a rhythm.
Lawrence is an absolute stud and he even looks the part out on the gridiron. I’m tagging him with the nickname right now-Phi Tau Fabio. He looks like an absolute frat star with that long, golden hair flying around on the field, covering his name tag. Some might call it Tom Brady 2007-esque, and it screams college football. I can relate to the style as I used to wear my hair the same way back in middle-school. I absolutely love it! He is an elite pocket passer and can make every throw. He can beat you with his legs, but it’s his cannon of an arm that will shred collegiate defenses.
I believe that Swinney went with this decision because it was just too much of a distraction rotating them in and out every other drive and he finally trusts Lawrence to take over for good. Clemson’s defense is legit and they have arguably one of the nation’s top front sevens. The move to Phi Tau Fabio gives the University its best chance of taking down Alabama and it is the correct choice.
It takes a lot of stones to make the move away from a quarterback who led the 2017 Tigers to a College Football Playoff berth, especially to a freshman, but Lawrence is legit. He will be the next Aaron Rodgers at the pro level and will help turnaround a disgruntled NFL franchise in due time.
Fabio is the real deal and the Crimson Tide should be somewhat worried come January.