If you tune into CBS this afternoon, you will see a very familiar sight: The Tiger Woods Red Sunday Shirt™. Through three rounds of the Buick Open on Torry Pines G.C. in La Jolla, California, Woods is tied with three other players at nine under par, two strokes behind the leaders.
Woods and his red shirt might be one of the few things you recognize. Of the three players he is tied with and the three that are ahead of him, their average official world ranking is 156th (Charles Howell skews things a bit with a ranking of 15th). Nothing against these guys -- Brandt Snedeker has a quick smile and an even quicker swing, Andrew Buckle seems like an affable Aussie -- but in the past, players of lesser caliber than Woods (which, by definition is everyone) seem to part before him on his way to the top of the leaderboard like, well, the Red Sea.
Today however, there is more at stake for Woods than just his, ho-hum, 55th win on the PGA Tour. A win would mark his seventh in a row, getting close to the record eleven in a row set by the late Byron Nelson in 1945, which means it right up there with Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak in terms of staying power and respect.
There are records we all think will never be broken and the eleven PGA Tour wins in a row by Nelson is one of them, but with Woods, we've come to expect the unexpected. This afternoon, we'll see how the immovable object fairs against the irresistible force (clad in red of course).
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By the way, this video clip shows Woods tackles at least as well as an Eagles linebacker:
