Tiger Woods didn’t need to win the final battle of the season to win the war. The playoff match near Atlanta was won by Phil Mickelson, but second place was good enough for Woods to win the FedEx Cup, based on a player points system that starts at the beginning of the golf season.
The FedEx Cup brought Woods a $10 million paycheck. He has now won the cup twice in three years. Last year, he was injured and didn’t compete.
Woods managed to win the cup without winning a single major this year, and is continuing to earn his place in history, tournament by tournament.
Years from now when the only thing to remember Woods is through statistics, video clips and statues put up on courses throughout the country, sports journalists will still no longer ask who was the greatest golfer that ever lived.
They will all gather at a clubhouse restaurant, after a friendly 18, and contemplate the gods of golf — And they will name Tiger “Zeus.”
One young, well-educated, ambitious reporter will speak up.
“But what about Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicholas? They were good. Could Tiger have beat them?”
And the seasoned journalist sitting in his company will proudly smile, and nod his head at a portrait of Woods hanging near them.
“That’s the greatest golfer that every lived,” he will say.
He will say this because he watched Tiger play tournament after tournament through thick and thin — family death or personal injury — and still be the one everyone is chasing — the eagle sinking fist pumps and the Sunday afternoon jacket-fittings.
For the first time in UNF history, an Osprey golfer understands how it feels to be ranked No. 1 and may be able to be the same thing Tiger once was, the best golfer in the NCAA.
Being ranked No. 1 by Jeff Sagarin is a pretty amazing feat.
Last year, Sagarin was not too nice to UNF’s struggling men’s basketball program at one point ranking them 344 of 347.
UNF’s Sean Dale was home-schooled growing up in the Jacksonville area. He has played in numerous local tournaments and leads the UNF golf team to No. 15 in the country, according to Sagarin and Golf Weekly rankings.
This is by far the best athletic team on campus. Most of the other team sports’ winning percentages have suffered throughout the Division I transition.
Dale told the Spinnaker’s sports editor he would like to turn professional one day.
Going to see our golf team, you might find yourself watching a major-champion in the making. So before the hype of basketball begins, go watch something the Gators don’t watch — Sean Dale.
