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Until last year, I had never been to a PGA Tour event when I got a message from a buddy who told me that he had a ticket for me. This was at about 3pm. I did not even mind the late hour; I raced around to connect with him to get the ticket. Then I sped towards Dublin not even knowing exactly where to go. I finally arrived at Muirfield Village Golf Club around 5 something pm. I ran to the first hole I could find and it just happened to be number eighteen. I got there just in time to catch the last two pairings and witness Kenny Perry winning the 2008 Memorial Tournament. It was a good time. I even like to think that Kenny waved back at me when I waved and smiled at him as he passed on his way to the clubhouse. 

This year was very different and it was all because the Tiger was there! I have to admit that like many people I am drawn to the “Tiger tube”. I enjoy watching PGA golf, but I especially enjoy it when Tiger is playing and is in a position to win. I arrived at Murfield with my stepfather, Joe and a couple of his neighbors in plenty of time to catch all the action. I was so excited. My stepfather knew a great place to park and a great place to sit, the 12^th hole. It is a par 3 so you got to see all the action, the “whole hole” so to speak. As soon as we got situated, we looked at the pairings for the final day. I could not help myself; the first thing I looked for was Tiger’s tee time. Tiger was to tee off at 1:15. I sat there waiting for some of the big names to play through: Lee Jansen, major winner Zach Johnson, Ohio favorite Ben Curtis, and first round leader Luke Donald, to name just a few. I started to wonder how Tiger was doing. I got my cell phone out and checked on his status. Every two or three, minutes I would “refresh” the web page. He was -2 for the day, then –3. He kept going. I was still enjoying the 12^th but I kept checking on his progress. It turns out I was not the only one checking up on Tiger. People were whispering back and forth while others were looking for someone to give them an update.

Tiger was getting closer and closer to the 12^th. I saw that his score was continuing to drop, -4, -5, -6. Tiger just kept climbing the leader board, -7 and then more. Then it happened. We were watching Luke Donald putt when suddenly there was an almost indescribable sound from what we knew had to be the 11^th hole. Tiger had just chipped in for an eagle on the 11^th!  I was pretty sure that he was now just one shot back. I think I was even getting goose bumps; I was only about fifteen minutes away from seeing “The Tiger” live for the very first time.

He hit his tee shot and it landed on the green. I feel sorry for whoever plays with him. There has to be so much pressure and it has to be so difficult to concentrate when all you hear is “Go Tiger” for eighteen holes straight. Now when golfers putt, there is a worker who puts his hands up letting everyone know that they need to be quiet so the golfers can putt without distractions. However, when Tiger putts, no official or worker is needed. All throughout the day thus far, it was never as quiet as when Tiger got ready to putt. You could have heard a pin drop on the green; it was so quiet. Tiger made his par putt. We hung around to see the last few groups play through the 12^th hole, but I could not stop checking my phone to see what Tiger was doing. 

We left the course and headed home arriving just in time to see Tiger finish the 18^th hole and capture his sixty- seventh tournament win and his fourth Memorial Victory. I really enjoyed watching Kenny Perry’s win last year, but it may someday fade from my memory. This year will be different a lot different because I was there and I saw Tiger Woods, possibly the best golfer of all time, win. Tiger won, Tiger won!