Tiger Woods Is Once Again The Master of The Masters!

It took Tiger Woods 14 years, several surgeries and a lot of work, but the world's former number one golfer has finally come all the way back.

Tiger won his fifth Masters title, his first since 2005 and his first golf major title since 2008 after some agonizing near misses last year.   It is also the 15th Grand Slam major golf title he has won, putting him now only three wins away from catching golf legend Jack Nicklaus.   

Tiger after shooting a 67 in the third round to get him to -11 for the tournament, entered today's final round two strokes behind the leader Francesco Molinari.  It also put him in the final threesome of golfers with Molinari and Tony Finau who was also at -11 with him for the first time since 2007.

He and the remaining golfers because of the threat of bad weather at Augusta National, teed off early starting at 7:30 AM EDT in an ultimately successful attempt to get the final round in and avoid playing on Monday.  Tiger's group teed off at 9:20 AM.

Molinari led much of the day until double bogeys on holes 12 and 15 opened a window for Tiger to snatch the lead, and he pounced on it like back in the day Tiger.

Woods birdied the par 5 hole 13, the par 5 15th hole, and nearly got a hole in one on the par 3 16th hole for another birdie to build a two stroke lead with two holes to play on Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka.   After Koepka missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have put pressure on Woods to at least par the hole, Woods tapped a short putt in for a bogey that clinched his fifth green jacket.

He is now only one Masters win from tying Jack Nicklaus, and three Grand Slam titles away from tying Nicklaus for all time major titles with 18.

And it was a long time in coming.

Tiger Wins First Golf Tourney In Two Years

I wasn't in much of a football watching mood after my fave collegiate team took it on the chin Saturday.   After I was satisfied that the Texans won, I changed channels to see if Tiger Woods was finally going to come out on top in a golf tournament for the first time in two years.

The last time Tiger Woods was victorious in a tournament was on November 15, 2009 when he was the world's number one ranked player and won the Australian Masters.   Then came the fateful car crash during Thanksgiving weekend and all the turmoil surrounding it.  

On this day Woods was ranked number 52 in the world and was trailing Zach Johnson by one stroke going into the final day of his Chevron World Challenge in Thousand Oaks, CA.    Johnson relinquished the lead to Woods on the front nine holes and fell two shots behind him but came back to tie him and regain the lead with a birdie on the 16th hole.   

But the Tiger we remember showed up and showed out.  He made a clutch 16 foot birdie putt to tie Johnson on the 17th hole and after a Johnson miss on the 18th hole, drained another six foot birdie putt for his 83rd overall tournament win an his first in 749 days and 26 official events. 

The win also skyrocketed Tiger up the world golf ranking charts to number 21.

If the magic is back, we'll find out when he plays that late January 2012 tournament in Abu Dhabi.  If he wins it or is in the top ten finishers, look out PGA tour, the slump may indeed be over and I may have to start watching major tournaments again.  Tiger is only three major tournament wins away from catching Jack Nicklaus and four from surpassing him

And if the way he played last Sunday is an indicator of how 2012 may go, it's doable.

Is Tiger Back?

Needed a break from the Net and the drama surrounding the federal government shutdown and HB 235, so I found myself tuning in to the second round coverage of the 2011 Masters.

While scarfing down my Blue Bell I tuned in just in time to see Tiger Woods surge from being at even par for the day to closing to three shots off the lead while shooting a 66.  In the process he looked like he was starting to hit the types of shots he routinely used to make when he was the world's number one golfer for the last 10 years.

There's 36 more holes of golf to be played at Augusta national, and the question on mine and every other sports fans mind as we go into this weekend will be 'Is Tiger Back?'

Since he came back from his drama a year ago he's shown flashes of the old Tiger, but faded in later rounds.   I would like to see him break Jack Nicklaus' record for major tournament wins since he's only two tournaments wins from tying it.  I'd also like to see him start winning tournaments again, be it a major or a PGA tour one.   

As to whether he's back and finally sorted out the issues that have plagued his golf game, we'll find out in a few hours as the third round of The Masters gets underway. 

LPGA 'Female At Birth' Policy Scrapped

In the wake of a discrimination lawsuit filed by transwoman Lana Lawless,  the LPGA players voted yesterday to allow trans  women golfers a chance to play on the tour.    The vote was conducted at a meeting in advance of the LPGA Tour Championship, which starts Thursday at the Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando.

LPGA players voted to amend the constitution by removing the "female at birth" requirement and puts the LPGA in line with other international sporting associations like the International Olympic Committee and the Ladies European Tour.

Will we see Mianne Bagger at an LPGA event near us in the near future?   Only time will tell.

The bottom line is that if a young transwoman has the talent and desire to play in the LPGA, if she qualifies, she now has the opportunity to do so.  

LPGA To Vote On Trans Inclusion

In  response to Lana Lawless' October 12 federal discrimination lawsuit, the LPGA according to a report on GolfChannel.com is preparing to hold a November 30 player meeting at its Tour Championship event in Orlando to propose that its “female at birth” requirement for membership be changed to allow transgender membership.

The players were briefed at a recent meeting at a South Korean tour event in late October that the 'female at birth' requirement was created in a different era and time frame, is difficult to defend legally and other sporting organizations such as the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Golf Association, the Ladies European Tour and the British Ladies Golf Union have amended their bylaws to allow trans participation in their events.

Even if the LPGA changes its bylaws, Lawless' attorney Christopher Dolan said the lawsuit will continue to be pursued as Lawless seeks damages for interference with her ability to earn a living as a professional golfer.  

The LPGA rules as currently constituted also prohibit her from becoming a teaching member of the association


It will take a 2/3 vote of LPGA members to change those bylaws, and we'll see on November 30 if that happens.

Transwoman Files Discrimination Lawsuit Against LPGA

Transwoman Lana Lawless filed a federal lawsuit against the LPGA yesterday.   She's arguing that the LPGA requirement that competitors be 'female at birth' violates California civil rights law.

The LPGA policy has remained the same even though the International Olympic Committee changed its rules in 2004 to allow transgender athletes to compete if they have undergone reassignment surgery and at least two years of postoperative hormone-replacement therapy.

Several other sports organizations then passed their own policies permitting transgender people to compete, including the United States Golf Association, the Ladies Golf Union in Britain and the Ladies European Golf Tour.

“I think the LPGA. is really out of step with other professional sports organizations of its size, and it’s a wake-up call to other entities that we’re not going to tolerate discrimination based on gender identity,” said Kristina Wertz, the legal director of the Transgender Law Center in San Francisco told the New York Times in an interview.  She said California was one of 13 states, and the District of Columbia, that had laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity. 

The 57 year old Lawless underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2005 and in 2008 won the women's world long driving championship by whacking a 254 yard drive into a headwind.

She was ruled ineligible for the 2010 edition of this competition overseen by Long Drivers of America when it changed its rules to match the LPGA.   It begins Thursday in Danville,CA.

“It’s an issue of access and opportunity,” Lawless said in a Tuesday telephone interview. “I’ve been shut out because of prejudice.”

The lawsuit also names Long Drivers of America and its corporate sponsors Dick's Sporting Goods, Re/Max and CVS

Tiger's Baaaaaack!

Memo to the Not Ready For Golf Prime Time Players: Playtime is over.

Hope y'all enjoyed your eight month chance to get some of the spotlight while Tiger was rehabbing his surgically repaired knee and welcoming another child into the world.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando he dusted off the patented Tiger Sunday magic. He went from 5 strokes down at the start of the day to draining a 25 foot birdie putt on the 18th hole by shooting a 4 under par 66 round to erase that deficit and set up the dramatic victory.

In the process, he won his 64th PGA tournament, tying him with Ben Hogan for number 3 in all time wins, won his fifth straight tournament event dating back to last year's US Open and served notice that he would be one of the favorites to get another green jacket when the Masters tees off in two weeks.

Hey Augusta, you may want to pre-order that green jacket in Tiger's size