It’s quite hard to get into this because of the weather delays and it looks like Tiger is still struggling to maintain any sort of form.

It makes me laugh when the commentators (many of whom should know better) call Whistling Straits a links course. A links course is nine holes out along the coast then nine holes back along the course in the opposite direction (see North Berwick). It is a great golf course that is going to really test the players of the next two days but a links course it is not !

After the way he played last week, this round must’ve been a relief for Tiger. He still hit a couple of poor shots (especially the drive at 15) and was a little inconsistent on the greens but it was all a bit more like the Tiger of old.

Whistling Straights looks like a tricky (tricked up) type of course where a poor shot can cost you a bunch of strokes so Tiger needs to stay straight and get some luck on the greens to win but after last week making the cut will be a big improvement.

On a day when the recent bad weather abated, the pros ripped the Old Course to bits. As Tom Watson said the Old Lady was there for the taking and taken she was. Lots of good scores but two pleasing rounds; John Daly and  Tiger Woods. Daly got it to seven under at one stage and Woods got it to six so hopefully tomorrow they can keep it up and carrying on keeping us entertained.

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What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

Tiger’s been through a lot (all of it self-inflicted) but there’s still the great golfer in there somewhere. The Open at St. Andrews is coming up soon and I know where my fiver’s going.

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What ever you think of him as a person, you can’t fail to admire Tiger Woods as a golfer. This round may not win him the U.S. Open but it goes along way to show the golf still needs Tiger Woods and I for one am glad that he’s shown he’s still got it.

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What ever you think of his haircut, you have to admire McIlroy’s golf. To shoot 16 under over the final two rounds is the kind of golf even Tiger would struggle to match at his peak. I watched the coverage on Sky however and Robert Lee and company were a bit over the top in their praise. Remember Tiger had won two PGA events by his age and went on to be the youngest man to win the Masters (by twelve shots) so whilst it’s good that we have such a brilliant player, he’s not Tiger Woods and all that Tiger has meant to the game. Let’s hope the lure of the girlies doesn’t do for him as it seems to have done for Tiger.

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I liked the old Tiger and don’t really care about his private life. Donald Trump said it all when he said that Tiger’s marriage is over and he should continue as a playboy. I don’t really care whether he’s nice to the crowd or journalists, as long he keeps me entertained with his great golf.

This article makes some interesting points especially the one about Tiger playing in events that he doesn’t normally play in as some kind of recompense for the support the Tour has given him. That would kind of be an honourable this to do.

It was a fantastic win by Phil Mickelson at The Masters at the weekend but this article is a great summary of how the last round went Sunday. It is totally hypocritical of Jim Nantz to have a pop at Tiger when he left his wife for a younger woman. Where do these people get off ? So what if Tiger said “You suck” and “Damn”. Nantz should come and play with us on a Sunday morning if he really wants to here bad language.

By being in contention after two rounds at the Masters, Tiger Woods have proved that he is still the best golfer ever. After not playing for nearly five months, he’s shoved it back down the throat of all the journos who said that the scandal surrounding him would mean he had no chance of winning. He may not win, but he’s shown he’s still got it.

It sets the Masters up nicely and adds to a great weekend of sport which includes The Grand National, El Clasico, super soar away Spurs in the FA Cup semi finals. So to make my sporting weekend complete Tiger needs to win the Masters, my horse to win the National, Spurs to beat Portsmouth, Real to beat Barcelona and me to win the swindle tomorrow at golf. Not too much to ask is it sporting Gods ?