Tiger Woods Wins While Another Would-Be Adversary Bites the Dust

Who’s going to step up and challenge Tiger Woods?

It’s a question that golf fans, writers, analysts, and general enthusiasts have been asking for the past decade.

In reality, we couldn’t care less who steps up and challenges Woods, just as long as someone actually does it. 

The list of players who have been named as potential challengers over the years is long and distinguished.

We thought it could be Sergio Garcia after his impressive performance as a teenager back at the 1999 PGA Championship.

It was too bad when it turned out that Garcia would be far too busy battling his own inner demons to have any time left for challenging Woods.

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen made their way onto this list after a few major championship wins in the early 2000s.

But of course, that never panned out.

Phil Mickelson has been a permanent fixture on this list despite his, well, let’s just say "difficulties" in closing out major championships.

Last year, while the big cat was away, the mice certainly came out to play.

Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas each won twice in 2008, and Padraig Harrington won back-to-back majors to close out the season.

Kim, Villegas, and Harrington were labeled "can’t miss" competition for Woods upon his return from reconstructive ACL surgery in early 2009.

Once again, however, the competition never arrived.

Kim has been too busy getting thrown from horses, falling down flights of stairs, and injuring himself while surfing to have any time left to challenge Woods.

Villegas has not really been a factor in any event this season and has even cut his trademark long hair that used to flow over the collar of his skin-tight golf shirt.

Harrington has won three major championships, is a bit older than Woods, and has shown an ability to thrive in the most pressure-packed situations.

The only problem was that Harrington decided to revamp his golf swing after winning back-to-back majors to close out the 2008 season.

It wasn’t until last week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational that Harrington finally sprung back to life.

Harrington opened with a 64 and was the sole leader after each of the first three rounds.

On Sunday afternoon, Harrington was given Tiger Woods and a three-stroke head start.

Let the battle begin.

By the fourth, they were all tied up, and by the turn, Woods had taken a two-stroke lead.

Another competitor, and another Tiger Woods pummeling...or so it seemed.

Woods began to struggle on the back nine with bogeys at the 13th and 14th, while Harrington continued to hold steady and took a one-stroke lead to the par-five 16th.

Maybe this could be the day.

Maybe Paddy is the chosen one.

Maybe, just maybe he is going to take Woods’ best punches and still come out on top.

Or maybe not.

Harrington made an eight on the 16th, while Woods finished off his injured prey with an eight iron that he hit to less than two feet for birdie.

And, as the Queen song goes, another one bites the dust.

Woods went on to par the 17th and birdie the 18th while the rest of us disappointedly discussed how no one is ever going to step up and take this guy down, at least not anytime soon.

If anyone was going to keep it together down the stretch while holding a lead over Woods, it was Harrington. Harrington has won three majors in the past three years and has competed on numerous Ryder Cup teams.

But an eight on the 16th when you’re holding a one-stroke lead over the No. 1 player in the world?

As Roy McAvoy said in the popular golf film Tin Cup, while hitting one shank after another on the range, “I thought we were all supposed to be professionals here.”

It’s debatable whether or not Harrington "melted down."

It’s difficult to believe that a three-time major champion would fold that easily in the face of pressure. 

Perhaps Harrington’s heart wasn’t beating any faster on the 16th hole on Sunday than it had on Thursday afternoon.

Perhaps Harrington simply had his worst hole of the week at the worst possible time and nerves were never really a factor.

Being put on the clock by PGA Tour officials while mulling over his second shot on the 16th probably didn't help matters much for Harrington either.

Whatever the reason maybe, the fact of the mater is that Harrington, like so many others who have come before him, simply didn’t get the job done down the stretch while having a very legitimate chance to take down Woods.

Woods’ win on Sunday was his seventh in 10 tries at Firestone Country Club and was the 70th of his still young career.

Woods could very well pass Jack Nicklaus’ 73 career wins by the end of this season, and with a win this week at the PGA Championship, he would pull to within just three of Nicklaus’ record of 18 career major wins.

This all comes while, despite the receding hairline and ever-expanding bags under his eyes, Woods is just 33 years old.

Folks, it may just be time to wave the white flag, stop with the hypothetical lists of possible competitors, and simply sit back and enjoy watching this guy topple every record in the book like a row of tumbling dominoes.