MIKE & MIKE

by Mike Golic and Mike Greeny

THE BIG QUESTION
Tiger is sharper than ever. Is there a sane person left who gives the rest of The Masters field a chance? The Mikes take the test.

Golic I'll take Tiger every time. What makes him so impressive is not the way he smokes a drive down the middle of the fairway or makes that 25-foot putt to win. Rather, it's the level of concentration he needs to do those things. Even at the highest reaches of sport, there are different levels of concentration, and right now Tiger is on a level all by himself. The only other player I've ever seen with such a degree of focus is Michael Jordan.

Greeny It's astonishing, but you're right. Almost everyone would agree that you have to take Tiger over the field. And that's simply unprecedented in my lifetime of watching golf. You could take Roger Federer vs. the field at Wimbledon, but he has to beat only seven players. Tiger has to stay ahead of the pack for four straight days. Even legends like Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Arnold Palmer had legitimate rivals who competed on an even playing level. I challenge you to come up with someone in any individual sport who was ever as completely without peer for a significant period of time as Tiger has been in golf.

Golic But all of Tiger's success also begs for someone to step up and challenge him. Everyone in America wants it to be Phil Mickelson. We want Tiger and Phil always paired in the final group on Sunday. At this point, though, we'll take anyone who can challenge Tiger regularly.

Greeny That day will come—but it might not come for another 15 years.

PREDICTIONS SURE TO BE WRONG

Greeny Isiah Thomas will be the next coach of the Indiana Hoosiers.
Golic There's a better chance that Bob Knight will be the next coach of the Knicks.

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine