Woods & Pacquiao: A study of contrasts

By Al S. Mendoza

TIGER Woods continues to suffer.

He ought to win the 75th Masters last Monday.

He didn’t.  He couldn’t.

After opening with a 71, he shot a 66 in Round 2.

With those two initial blasts, especially his 66, Tiger should have been on the way to victory.

Even the leaders after two rounds heard the threatening, thundering roar, growl, of the Tiger.

They shuddered at the thought of the Tiger on the prowl.  Again.

But, lo and behold, Tiger faltered in the third round, firing a 74.

The momentum was not only stalled.  And his assault was not only put on hold.

His offensive fell into smithereens.

Golf is so cruel a game that one cannot afford to misfire even just for once.

So, even if Tiger came back the next day with a 67, he still fell short.

He placed tied for fourth, which was not bad, though, considering that the youth brigade in golf had banded together to storm the storekeepers of the game.

Charl Schwartzel, 26, went on to win the coveted Green Jacket as the South African, birdieing his last four holes, won the Masters on his second try.

Meanwhile, Tiger Woods had to lick his wounds again and his victory drought has now been extended to 16 months since he was caught cheating on his wife in November 2009.

But unlike Tiger Woods, Manny Pacquiao, the world’s pound-for-pound king in boxing, continues to bask in the glory of his career.

Just barely two weeks before his fight with American Shane Mosley for the WBO welterweight crown (147 lb), Pacquiao is the heavy favorite to win.

Just right.

Mosley is turning 40 just weeks after their scheduled bout on May 8 (Manila Time) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He is too old for a guy like Pacquiao, who, at 32, is at his best, mightiest and strongest.

I don’t see any reason why Pacquiao should not pocket his 14th straight victory – easily.

I also don’t see any reason why Mosley should be able to score the upset of the decade, if not the century.

As I keep saying, what I am worried about is not one lucky punch finding its mark on Pacquiao.

It is, that Mosley might get terribly hurt he’d end up damaged after the fight – for life.

God forbid.

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