Tiger Out Strategized

It's in the record book, almost rookie Zach Johnson wins the 2007 Masters by outplaying Tiger over the last round. Who would have guessed that last Thursday morning? Right, no one! So how did he do it?

I'm sure it is the culmination of a number of things, but it's always nice to pin it on a single factor. Is it possible that Zach played the course smarter than Tiger, the consumate pro golfer. Remember last year's British Open and how Tiger beat the field, many say by leaving his driver in the bag. He figured out the course and beat it at it's own game rather than trying to overpower it. Most of us admired the genius and iron will of the game's best current player.

Is it possible that Zach 'figured out' this year's Augusta by being content to lay-up on every par 5, instead of being lured into the catastrophies that going for an eagle at Augusta can produce. Statistically Zach played the par 5's at minus 11 to Tiger's minus 9. Those 2 strokes would have left Tiger tied at the end of regulation.

We all have our ideas on why one guy wins and the rest don't. Either way, there's a great lesson from this that we can all benefit from - take what the course gives you, not what it teases you with.