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So we say congratulations to Tiger Woods for achieving the impossible – becoming the first man to win The Masters after putting a ball into Rae's Creek.
Now, that is a tradition unlike any other.
What a week, friends. And yes, I think I can call you all "friends." After all, Jim Nantz does so on CBS for Masters week, and does so with such a sotto sincerity, he sounds like the neighbor you always wish you had. Nantz, as Neighbor, waving to you from his driveway: "Hello, friend! Need some help raking those leaves?"
As usual, the stage that is Augusta National G.C. delivered, the same way the Globe Theatre delivered every time Will Shakespeare – the Tiger Woods of playwrights – penned a play for that stage.
And what a finish to our Nine Holy Days of Sport. Starting on April 2, with Final Four Saturday, up to April 10, with Masters Sunday, American sports gets no better. It's almost a religious experience, reminding one of, say, Lent, when a Catholic surrenders something personal, so moved is he or she by his or her spirituality. Somebody suggested I give up beer for the Nine Holy Days of Sport, but after that idea was laughed out of the room, I decided to leave the sacrifices for the Lent people. Garçon, another Budweiser, please!
Tiger on a Sunday evening at The Masters – it's just what the world is supposed to be like, right? The thing is, this was a new spin on Tiger at The Masters, a fresh spin. For the first time in his 11 visits to that cathedral of pines, we saw a scarred Tiger, a bloody Tiger. He's still a legend, and in some ways, his legend grows because of the new dimensions, but does Tiger Woods ever finish bogey-bogey at Augusta National to spit up a two-shot lead? Does Tiger Woods ever miss a putt on the 72nd hole and fail to close the deal in regulation?
This is a new facet of Tiger's legend: Tiger, limping home, winning with fallibility. Yes, the chip on 16 is destined for Jack-in-'75, Sarazen-in-'35-styled legend, and the winning putt was a birdie, center-cut, in the gloaming, but this isn't Tiger-in-'00, winning four straight, or Tiger-in-'97, winning by 12.
This is Comeback Tiger, and like Comeback Elvis and Comeback Sinatra, it's a more grown-up Tiger, a bit more world-weary, a bit less innocent. Comeback Elvis was 1968, a decade after he was the unblemished, hip-swiveling god. He had a few more pounds, and a bit more of a jade to him. Still, it was sweet Elvis.
And Comeback Sinatra was the same way. The honeyed voice of the Tommy Dorsey Era had been hardened by heartbreak via Ava Gardener, and more than a few cigarettes, sips of Jack Daniel's and viewed sunrises.
It'd been 10 majors since we'd seen Tiger roar. Been since June 2002. A lot has happened since then: A war, an election, a Red Sox World Series, and questions of whether Tiger will ever catch Jack.
I'm not saying Tiger is a lock to catch Jack. All I'm saying is, Sinatra recorded the likes of "Summer Wind," "It Was a Very Good Year" and "New York, New York" after he made his comeback.
