When Tiger's in position to dictate the surrender terms, he forces everybody else to take most of the risks. Yet he's the only one who ever gets rewarded. Sort of like golf's version of the old Four Corners offense.
Yesterday at steamy Southern Hills Country Club, the planet's best player did precisely what was necessary to finish things off - once again. One day, maybe he'll win a major by coming from behind. Until then, he'll just have to settle for being 13-for-13 as a front-runner. He has won 13 majors and trails only Jack Nicklaus, who had 18 major victories.
He didn't need to be spectacular yesterday. That was Friday's story. All he had to do was limit his mistakes, make somebody come and get him. Which, of course, nobody could quite do. It's simply asking too much.
Tiger closed with another 69 for an 8-under-par 272, two better than Woody Austin and three ahead of Ernie Els.
It's his first win in a major since last August's PGA, following near-misses in the Masters and U.S. Open when both times he played in the final pairing. And it's the first major he has won since the birth of his daughter, Sam, his first child, who soon will be 2 months old. She was waiting for him in the scoring tent, along with wife Elin. Neither made the trip to last month's British Open.
"That's a feeling I've never experienced before," said Tiger, who now has four PGA titles, one shy of the record shared by Nicklaus and Walter Hagen. "Having her here brings chills. I'm surprised they're out here. It's just so cool.
