Yet Another Masters Revelation

I know, I know.

The Masters has been over for four days now and another PGA Tour event is currently taking place at Harbor Town.

But, I was once again reliving in my mind all the fireworks that took place down the stretch at Augusta last Sunday and I stumbled upon a very odd revelation.

Maybe it was Mickelson's incredibly strong start on the front nine or maybe it was because by Sunday afternoon I had gotten so used to seeing Tiger Woods scratch and claw his way around Augusta National.

Whatever the reason may be, as I thought back to Sunday's Woods/Mickelson showdown, I remembered something odd, something I had never felt before in all my years of watching Tiger Woods play.

At no point during the Woods/Mickelson showdown did I actually think Tiger Woods would win the Masters.

I found that I was actually viewing Mickelson as the more larger-than-life character on Sunday and my gut feeling was that if either of these two guys were to pull off the incredible, it would be Phil.

And, trust me, I am not one of those who are either holding out or for some reason afraid to say that, in Tiger Woods, we are probably watching the greatest player of all-time.

Needless to say, I watch a lot of golf. When I'm not watching golf or spending time with my family, I'm usually reading or writing about it.

To be quite honest, I'm really surprised that I have not come home one day to see that my wife has strewn my clothes across the front lawn, snapped every last one of my golf clubs and started a bonfire with all of my golf books.

But anyway, back to Sunday at the Masters.

In the past 13 years of avidly watching the PGA Tour, I don't ever recall a time when Woods was in contention and I truly believed that there was absolutely no way he was going to win.

Woods has never come from behind to win a major. Yet at last year's Masters, despite starting the final round several strokes behind Trevor Immelman and playing an indifferent round of golf, I never once had that feeling there was no chance he would win.

Heading to the 72nd hole at the 2008 U.S. Open and needing a birdie to tie Rocco Mediate and force a Monday playoff, despite watching Woods find the fairway bunker with his drive and the thick rough with his approach shot, I still, in my gut, felt as if he would walk off the 18th green with a birdie.

That feeling was just not present this past Sunday at Augusta, even when both Woods and Michelson each walked to the 17th tee box just one stroke off the lead.

Obviously the both of them wavered down the stretch and the battle of these two titans came to a somewhat disappointing close. But, amazingly, Phil's bogey at the 18th actually surprised me a lot more than Woods' bogey on the hole.

In case you might have forgotten, Woods has just recently come back from an eight month layoff due to reconstructive knee surgery.

Obviously expecting Woods to have his game ready to win the masters within 6 weeks of returning to the PGA Tour would have been a lot to ask of the guy. But, that's just the thing.

When was the last time you truly thought that this man would not somehow achieve the impossible?

Well, for me it was this past Sunday at Augusta.

We gave Woods the benefit of the doubt at the Accenture Match Play Championship and the WGC-CA Championship—he was just coming back from an eight month layoff after all.

Then Woods came from five-strokes back to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which he closed out in typical dramatic fashion by sinking a 12 foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole.

Things appeared to be looking up for Woods, but despite winning the event, Woods did not play particularly well at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

He hit just 50 percent of greens in regulation over the first two rounds and did some things, such as sending short irons clear over the green, that we just do not see Tiger Woods do.

Either way, at the start of Masters week, most expected Trevor Immelman to be helping Woods into his fifth green jacket on Sunday.

Of course, that didn't happen.

Obviously my 'gut instinct' has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with how Woods performs. To be perfectly honest, my 'gut instinct' is wrong a lot more often that it's right.

And, as sure as I'm sitting here writing this article right now, Woods will eventually get back to his dominant form.

But, for the first time in as long as I can remember, Tiger Woods actually appeared human on the golf course and even appeared outgunned by his career-long rival, Phil Mickelson.

That is something I had never seen or felt before in 13 years of watching Tiger Woods completely dominate the PGA Tour...and it was surprising.

That being said, no matter what my 'gut feeling' is come U.S. Open week, I certainly wouldn't bet against Woods at Bethpage.