The Golf Channel is advertising “Two Weeks of Tiger”—apparently a fourteen day Tiger lovefest. All kinds of things were running through my head as I heard that. Among them:

There IS such a thing as too much publicity.

The Golf Channel has jumped the shark.

If Tiger is as private a person as his press releases make him out to be, what does he think of this?

Is Nike paying The Golf Channel through back channels for two weeks of nonstop advertising?

They’re beating a dead horse.

I wonder how the other 124 members of the Tour feel about this?

Familiarity breeds contempt.

Too much of anything is bad for you.

If (God forbid) Tiger were to die suddenly, would The Golf Channel go out of business?

I’m giving The Golf Channel “three thumbs down” on my TiVo for the next two weeks so it won’t record any of that network’s programs.

Why didn’t I get a two week celebration when I returned to teaching after winter break? I’m at least as good a teacher as Tiger is a golfer. I’ve been voted Best Teacher six years in a row by the Senior Classes. I’m better looking, too. And smarter. And more interesting.

I have to admit that I missed this one completely.  Golf Channel Anchor Kelly Tilghman said on Friday that young pro golfers trying to catch up to Tiger Woods should “lynch him in a back alley.” Not a good choice of words, given the historical implications.

She’s since apologized, and Tiger’s agent says that no offense was taken.

Will Tiger Win The Grand Slam This Year? The answer, I think, is a cautious yes.

With Tiger, it’s all about the courses. There are a few courses that he totally dominates. In fact, by my count, 40% of his victories have come at just six courses: Bay Hill, Augusta, Muirfield, Medinah, Firestone and Torrey Pines. Six of his thirteen majors have come at just two courses: August and St. Andrews. Eight have come at three, if you add Medinah.

Given this year’s venues, hes got a pretty good shot at the Slam.

Augusta, of course, is home of the Masters. He’s always played very well there and has to be the favorite.

The US Open is at Torrey Pines. Over the years, Tiger has absolutely OWNED Torrey Pines, having won four of the last five Buick Invitationals. I predict that he wins both the Buick Invitational and the US Open at Torrey Pines this year. The USGA has practically handed him this victory.

Royal Birkdale, site of the Open Championship is a bit of an unknown. In 1998, Tiger finished third here, after shooting a 66 on Sunday and missing the playoff by just one stroke. Familiarity is Tiger’s friend. In the final analysis, I think he has a very good chance here.

The most problematic of the quartet is Oakland Hills. Tiger has played here in competition just twice. At the 1996 US Open, he was the reigning US Amateur Champion, but tied for 82nd after having two rounds of 76 and 77. Then there was the 2004 Ryder Cup. He was involved in 3 losses out of four in team events, but won on Sunday over Paul Casey 3 and 2. Not exactly impressive.

It is, in many ways, hard for fans to warm up to Tiger Woods. He is so guarded, so unapproachable, and in many ways, so mechanical that I sometimes wonder if there’s any soul there.

And then he comes up with this:

When asked to identify the most important thing he had learned about golf in 2007, Woods paused for several seconds, murmured, “Great question,” and, in an even voice, opened up.

“Not necessarily golf-wise, but life-wise, I think I’ve grown quite a bit this year,” he said. “After my dad passed last year [Earl Woods died at age 74, after a long battle with cancer, on May 3, 2006], I played well, but I was still not really feeling all that great about life in general.”

As the audience leaned in, Woods didn’t pull back.

“I felt like I hadn’t really appreciated having Dad around. I didn’t talk to him as much as I should have. I didn’t call him, didn’t see him, wasn’t there enough. It was kind of in my mind through the entire last year and even the beginning of this year. That I didn’t do enough.”

As the words filled the big room, there was only stillness.

“But when I had [daughter] Sam this year, I wanted to take in every moment and appreciate everything. And I think that’s where my life has changed off the course. And no doubt I played better as a result. But it’s sad. One thing I regret is that it took the fact of my dad’s passing for me to appreciate how good my life was with him. I wish I had been able to realize how good it was when he was there.”

That’s exactly the same thing I’ve thought in the last couple of years after my own father’s passing. And, in talking to friends, it’s a familiar refrain.

So Tiger’s human, after all. And perhaps more vulnerable than most. When my father died, I got two days bereavement leave and then my administrators and students expected me to return to work and pick up as though nothing had happened. It’s the same for most of us. Tiger, on the other hand, found it necessary to take a couple of months off from work.

Perhaps his steely demeanor is there to mask a vulnerable interior. It was not until years later that anyone knew the personal price that Bobby Jones paid for his superhuman feats of golf. No stretch is required to imagine a similar agony for Tiger. He has said on several occasions that his time in professional golf will be shorter than we might think. Perhaps that’s why.

You can read the entire Jamie Diaz article here.

An Irish magazine that published fake nude photos of Elin Woods during the 2006 Ryder Cup has apologized and reportedly will pay the Woods $182,000 over two years. Elin had at one time worked as a model, but apparently had done no nudes.

I can’t imagine what the publisher of the Dubliner was thinking. He had to know that Tiger would hire an army of lawyers and descend upon Ireland like the Vikings of old (Dublin was actually founded by the Vikings in 841). Faced with an opponent who has unlimited resources, the Dubliner had no choice but to settle. They likely would have spent far more than $182,000 fighting it in court.

The Woods said that the money would be donated to cancer support charities in memory of Heather Clarke, the late wife of British golfer Darren Clarke.

The full article is here.