June

[Sweder]

Wish I had more time on this but needs must when the Devil drives and Satan's wearing lead boots this week.

Last night Tiger Woods won a thrilling 19-hole play-off to win his 3rd US Open and 14th 'major' title. He did this in his first tournament after major knee surgery (in April), in constant and obvious pain, against a starting field of 150 of the best golfers in the world.

In this modern age, when technology turns mediocre into very good and opportunities to play what has been until recently an elitist sport are ever more plentiful, his achievements so far have been nothing short of pheonominal. I can think of few (if any) contests where a man (or woman) pits their wits and skill against such an array of talent and continually comes out on top. The law of averages, weather conditions, luck (good and bad), health, pressure . . . all these conspire to thwart such endeavour, yet time and again this man rises up, takes the challenge and squeezes it until the pips squeak.

There's a massive amount of hyperbole spoken and written about Tiger Woods. Much has to do with sales of sporting goods and cable subscriptions. When you live in a media frenzy-driven world, in the midst of continual acts of supreme sporting success, it can be difficult to appreciate what we are witnessing.

I can tell you this; irrespective of money, corporate hype or anything else the killjoys try to tell you we are in the presence of greatness.