Second thoughts

Tiger Woods (left) and Phil Mickelson were not playing on Sunday at Augusta National for the first time in 20 years. Woods missed the tournament after back surgery and Mickelson missed the cut. It could signal the end of a golfing rivalry from which fans expected to see years of thrilling matches.
Tiger Woods (left) and Phil Mickelson were not playing on Sunday at Augusta National for the first time in 20 years. Woods missed the tournament after back surgery and Mickelson missed the cut. It could signal the end of a golfing rivalry from which fans expected to see years of thrilling matches.

Golf’s great rivalry finds the hazards

Oh where have you gone, Tiger and Lefty?

Well, they actually haven’t gone anywhere. Tiger Woods missed last week’s Masters after undergoing back surgery. Phil Mickelson was at Augusta, he just didn’t make the cut.

Still, their absences were noted, according to Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, and their rivalry may never reach where fans hoped it would.

“Golf has reached a turning point,” Souhan wrote. “Like most turning points, this one offers the chance to reminisce or regret, to hope or worry.

“For the first time in 20 years, they held a major championship at Augusta National and neither Tiger Woods nor Phil Mickelson played on the weekend. If they weren’t missed for much of the Masters, as youngsters and seniors vied for attention, they were missed on Sunday afternoon, when their play inevitably draws the eye, whether they’re making eagles or rinsing golf balls in Rae’s Creek.

“Their old selves might be missed for a long time.

“Woods hasn’t won a major since 2008 and is recovering from back surgery, perhaps the most devastating procedure a golfer can undergo. He no longer holds his old advantages of length or intimidation, and he has dedicated at least part of his life to raising his children, raising questions about whether he’ll ever regain the fierce dedication that separated himself from so many of his peers.

“Mickelson, at 43, is past his prime and, as Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee noted this week, has lost club-head speed, robbing him of distance.

“Neither is what he once was, and that’s a shame, because they never became, together, what we had hoped.

“Either could win another major or win another Masters, but the odds of them appearing again at the same Masters ceremony have greatly diminished.

“We hoped for a rivalry, for two players who vied for so many of the same majors and who never liked each other to duel on back nines for decades. It rarely happened anywhere, and it never really happened at Augusta National, and that’s strange and sad.”

Good ol’ Darlington

Veteran NASCAR writer Monte Dutton didn’t waver in his appreciation for Darlington Raceway on his blog after watching Kevin Harvick dominate Saturday night’s Southern 500.

“I can’t judge a NASCAR race at Darlington Raceway. I love it too much,” Dutton wrote from Clinton, S.C. “It dissolves me in emotion. Memories flood back of Cotton Owens, Dale Earnhardt, Neil Bonnett and Tim Richmond, all men I saw win there (Owens as an owner) and all of whom have passed away since.

“Darlington is the only track where one driver dominating numbs my interest not the least.

… At most tracks, with Harvick scattering edible dust in his wake, I would have started reading a book, or playing my guitar, or checking on a ballgame. Darlington held my interest. I was only distracted by that video game, ‘Need to Tweet.’

“For those among you who cannot grasp the majesty of Darlington, there’s nothing I can do. If you don’t see the subtleties, you probably never will.”

Quote of the day

“No buyer’s remorse at all.” Nick Bhardwaj, after placing the winning bid of $11,700 in Arkansas State’s “Head Coach Experience” online auction

Sports, Pages 22 on 04/16/2014

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