Golf makes sense again -- in a nonsensical sort of way.
While the world is still trying to digest what happened to Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship, let's take a moment to welcome back the element of mystery to the game that's been missing for too long.
Y.E. Yang's shocking head-to-head comeback win over the previously invincible Woods has brought the element of doubt back to the game. As sports psychologist Bob Rotella's seminal book states, golf is not a game of perfect. It's nice to know that rule applies to Woods as well.
As soon as Yang's winning putt dropped, critics began decrying 2009 as the least inspiring crop of major winners since 2003 -- when Mike Weir, Jim Furyk, Ben Curtis and Shaun Micheel each won their first and (so far) only career majors. These views are expressed merely because none of these guys were perceived superstars at the time of their triumphs, and some never will be.
It's a pretty shallow analysis and based a little too much on sentiment in a sport that strangely roots against the underdogs.
Stewart Cink joked last week about being part of the "spoiler group" of 2009 major winners, a fraternity that certainly grew by one more when Yang took out the most popular golfer in the world. It's an unfair assessment of merit and way too Ameri-centric.
The sentimental Sunday favorites in the first three majors all came up short. Likeable 49-year-old American Kenny Perry spit the bit at the Masters Tournament and opened the door for Argentina's Angel Cabrera in a playoff. Snake-bitten Phil Mickelson, with his wife awaiting breast cancer surgery, and long-lost David Duval faltered in the stretch at the U.S. Open and allowed rising star Lucas Glover to step up. Then 59-year-old Tom Watson came one par away from scripting a story for the ages at the British Open, giving Cink his chance.
These weren't the stories the majority of American fans wanted to see, but that's the nature of sport and particularly golf. It doesn't detract from the stories we got.
Cabrera became the second South American ever and first in 42 years to win a major, avenging the painful clerical mistake of his countryman Roberto De Vicenzo at Augusta National Golf Club in 1968. Then Yang became the first Asian-born male to win a major, sparking tearful celebrations among South Koreans.
In an era when growing the game is vital, giving the two most golf-starved continents something to get excited about is ideal for the future of golf. Just because English isn't their first language is no reason to diminish their achievements.
Of course it would have been great, too, if Woods had won his 15th career major. There's no such thing as a bad victory by an incomparable superstar doing what he does best.
But there's nothing wrong with him failing once in awhile either. Jack Nicklaus survived major defeats to Charles Coody and Dave Marr. Tiger will be just fine and maybe refocus a little more now that others know he isn't infallible with a lead on Sunday.
While nobody considers Sunday's loss by Woods anything more than a speed bump on his road to catch Nicklaus' record 18 major wins, Yang's victory (and the weekend failures of marquee stars such as Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els) lends more fuel to the debate about the caliber of Woods' competition compared to the crowd Nicklaus had to wrestle with.
While you can make a compelling case regarding the broader depth of the modern fields, it is no argument that Nicklaus lost to a better class of achievers on the major stages.
Nicklaus finished runner-up a record 19 times in majors to 12 different guys -- including four losses to both Watson and Lee Trevino and twice to Arnold Palmer. The 12 guys who edged him out won a combined 43 majors, 237 PGA Tour events and conservatively an additional 438 individual events worldwide. Seven of them are Hall of Famers, five of them won at least 20 times on the PGA Tour and eight won at least 10.
The six guys who have taken down Woods hardly stand up to comparison. Only one of them, Cabrera, has won multiple majors. They sport a combined 14 tour wins and roughly 63 more worldwide. Only Zach Johnson (five tour wins) has won more than the two least successful guys on Nicklaus' list (Marr and Coody won three times each), It's too soon to assess their Hall of Fame chances, but it's safe to say only Cabrera is reasonably close thus far.
It's not Woods' fault that he has yet to be pushed to the 72nd hole by any Hall of Famers in waiting. His biggest rival has been the record books. He's lacking that marquee "Duel in the Sun" that the man he's chasing had to endure a time or two. We got a glimpse of what it might look like when he went toe-to-toe with Mickelson on Sunday at Augusta before they both petered out.
Those moments might still come. You never know what kind of drama future majors have in store for us. But the drama we got in 2009 -- and especially on Sunday -- was just fine. The season showed again just how unpredictable the game can be.
And in the era of Tiger Woods, that's a good thing to be reminded of now and then.
Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.
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I get deeply concerned when libfarts talk about growing the game. The game doesn't need to grow.
Ever heard of slow play and golfers who don't know the rules of the game?
More and more courses will become private or increase their green fees to keep the undesirables away.