T.J.'s Take: Try as we might, it's still all about Tiger

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I'm feeling guilty this week. Ever try to avoid something like it's the plague? Perhaps the dentist? The doctor? The landlord? The Department of Motor Vehicles? The Internal Revenue Service? The in-laws?

T.J. Auclair

WHAT'S YOUR TAKE?

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Well, that's me. I've been trying my darnedest in this column space recently to avoid the mention of two particular words -- "Tiger Woods" -- and that undertaking has been nothing but two words -- "freaking impossible."

What do you say? At this point, "I knew it," seems to be all you can say. Take this past weekend at Bay Hill for instance. Woods was seven shots behind 36-hole leader Vijay Singh before teeing it up in the third round on Saturday. At the end of the day, Woods was part of a logjam sharing the 54-hole lead at 6-under par.

Gee, I wonder who everyone in the universe figured would rise from the crowded leaderboard in the final round.

Even still, it's not boring to watch. Instead, it's the furthest thing from boring. Tiger made the game of golf "cool" a long, long time ago. But now, it's thrilling, historic and ridiculous.

The thrilling: Tiger does what he does and makes the putt when he needs it most, canning that twisting 25-foot birdie putt on No. 18 to win by a shot.

The historic: He's now tied with Ben Hogan for third all-time in TOUR wins.

The ridiculous: Bart Bryant's reaction from the scoring trailer as he watched Tiger decide he wasn't in the mood for a playoff. Bryant did what the rest of us did -- shook his head and smiled as if, well, he knew it.

Just like you don't give Larry Bird an open look at a three-pointer, David Ortiz a fastball over the heart of the plate, or Tom Brady a sideline-streaking Randy Moss in man-coverage, you DO NOT give Tiger a chance to hole a putt for the win, because the outcome is seemingly predetermined.

To Bryant's credit, he certainly didn't "give" Tiger the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard. Bryant actually put up a valiant fight in the form of his final-round 3-under-par 67. But, like the rest of the TOUR, Bryant's effort wasn't enough.

Can you even begin to imagine what it would be like to go to your office each day and do your job to the greatest of your ability only to have another person in the office one-up you every single time? Of course, Bryant's bank account is a lot healthier looking than most and he's not the only person Tiger's abused in this latest five-win streak on TOUR, but you can bet the others wouldn't mind taking home some hardware to show for the hard work every now and again.

Everything about Tiger is incredible from his physique, to his swing, to his results. Golf is not the kind of sport where players are supposed to be able to go on winning streaks, especially five or more. Only three players have ever won five or more TOUR events in a row -- Tiger has done it on three occasions, including this one. Hogan had a streak of six and then, of course, Byron Nelson set the standard at 11.

I don't get tired of watching Tiger and I don't get tired of writing about him, either -- which is a good thing for me and the rest of the sportswriting world seeing as he's not going away any time soon.

Tiger and the rest of the TOUR is a little like that scene from the Will Ferrell NASCAR movie Talladega Nights. Ferrell, playing the role of star driver Ricky Bobby, is talking to his friend Cal Naughton Jr. (played by John C. Reilly). Cal asks Ricky to just one time set him up for a win, to which Ricky reasons, "You can't have two number ones."

Cal replies, "Yeah, 'cause that would be 11."

And so it is with Tiger -- since there can only be one No. 1, he's decided he's going to occupy that spot until further notice.