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With Tiger, it's more than talent
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- We have bandied about some pretty strong adjectives regarding Tiger Woods the last few months. Magical. Mystical. Tom Watson even called him supernatural. And while the days and times of Mr. Woods have indeed become a Magical Mystery Tour to the rest of the players out here, and while he surely has been blessed with wonderful inborn talent and an instinct and desire that cannot be taught, there should be something made very clear here: He is absolutely in charge of his own destiny. Tiger Woods won this 82nd PGA Championship for one very, very simple and yet extremely difficult reason... Because he worked harder than anyone else for it. Two hours after he finished a very mediocre 70 Saturday, still in the lead but nowhere near as dominant as in majors past, he was on the driving range. And he was there until after dark, drilling iron after iron into the dusk, his coach, Butch Harmon, standing faithfully beside him. For awhile, Jesper Parnevik and Stuart Appleby were working alongside but nowhere were the pretenders -- the Mays and Dunlaps, Hayeses and Chalmerses. Only the leader was left in the end. We were taping our show that night on the range at 8:30. The skies were nearly pitch black. The small chipping green beside the range was backlit for us, the only light in the vicinity. And for 10 minutes, when there was nowhere else to work and no other light to work with, Tiger hit lob wedges over our heads to that green. And then he left and went to the practice putting green, working in the reflected light of the clubhouse nearby. It was one of the finest final rounds in PGA Championship history, perhaps the best ever. Electric and, well, supernatural. But the end result was not surprising to anyone. Tiger Woods works at his profession like no one else. And he won for that reason. And if that is magic, it is available to any and all willing. Jim Huber is an Emmy award-winning journalist for CNN/Sports Illustrated and a regular contributor to CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.
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