For such a crucial event, The Masters is a tranquil thing to behold. While you know every golfer in the field is grappling with pressure, it’s hard not to be lulled by the serenity of the landscape while those commentators croon their way into your living room.

Golf has never been synonymous with swift surprises—like a buzzer-beating jump shot or a walk-off homer in the ninth—but rather slow lead changes, taking days to gestate. After one round of play, it looks like this year’s Masters will deliver the kind of familiarity we’re all used to, but never seem to tire of.

For the third straight time, Justin Rose was at the top after 18 holes yesterday, but currently Trevor Immelman is holding the lead after shooting another 68, putting him eight under. And Tiger? Well, Tiger is where Tiger always seems to be.

He’s lurking, biding his time.

The expectations people have of Tiger pale in comparison to the ones Tiger holds of himself, but no matter how you look at it, Tiger had an uncharacteristically rough go of it yesterday. He even looked eerily mortal at one point, shooting two over par through 14 holes without a single birdie. It wasn’t long before Tiger’s mediocrity gave way to criticism, as is the case when your name is Tiger Woods.

Tiger’s critics, like Tiger’s career, are lacking in moderation. Critics are quick to point out that Tiger hasn’t made a birdie in his last 34 holes at Augusta National, that yesterday he was “unable” to make rudimentary shots. Now people are beginning to wonder if Augusta has been “Tiger-proofed.”

That’s a bit much. Tiger is usually quiet when he isn’t wearing red.

To be fair to the rest of the field, Tiger’s absence from serious contention allowed others to enjoy the spotlight yesterday.

Ian Poulter became the 11th man in history make a hole-in-one on the 16th at The Masters, where people have made the most aces than any other hole on the course. “Don’t get me wrong, I really respect every professional golfer, but I know I haven’t played to my full potential,” said Poulter. “When that happens, it will be just me and Tiger.”

Yikes. That’s a tall order. But you’ve got to admire his moxy.

Phil Mickelson also had some favorable bounces, leaving him four under yesterday. As I write this column, Mickelson is three under through 11.

As for Tiger, he should be teeing off right about now. If he continues his “rope-a-dope” approach to Augusta, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tiger makes the rest of the field sweat by the time he wraps up the back nine. Golf is a waiting game. Patience is a virtue in Augusta, and Tiger has proved time is on his side.

Time and time again.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff.

Here are three undisputable facts: The sky is blue, the grass is green, and Tiger Woods is a robot. I would love to tell all of you how the biggest news of the weekend is that Tiger Woods won the Tour Championship and the first ever Fed Ex Cup, but let’s be honest, it’s not a big deal. It has gotten to the point where Tiger losing is bigger news than Tiger winning.

No no, the most interesting news is not about Tiger, or how he has 61 career PGA tour victories, or how he won the championship by a whopping eight strokes, or even about how Tiger handles himself in the PGA. The real story is about how the PGA is going to handle Tiger.

Zach Johnson, who finished second in this year’s tournament, said the tournament is a way to ” . . .compete against other sports” towards the end of the year. The PGA Tour Championship and Fed Ex Cup has been called golf’s version of the Super Bowl; a way for them to end the season with a star-studded event featuring the best of the best.

The only problem is, it doesn’t really work.

Golf pros and pundits are slamming the way the PGA has structured its shiny new point-based playoff system. They all say things like it needs “improvement” or it needs some “tweaking.” Bob Harig, a contributing writer to ESPN, said the PGA needs to find a way to ” . . .give more players a chance at winning the whole thing.”

Good luck with that.

Here’s the real problem. Tiger has redefined the game. It doesn’t matter how hard the PGA tries to organize their point system because Tiger Woods is nigh unbeatable. What kind of point system could anyone come up with in order to give other golfers a chance? If they want a chance, they have to beat Tiger. No amount of re-structuring is going to let anyone do that.

If you can’t beat him, that’s it.

Do you think Sonny Liston would ever say, “Yeah, Ali never would have won that fight if he wasn’t using both his fists.”? Of course not.

So before anyone in the PGA’s administration spends too much time reorganizing their new tournament, let me offer my two cents. If you want to tweak the math, fine. But there’s no point in doing it until Tiger retires.

And since he’s a robot, that could be a while.

–Joey Alfino, RED Editorial Staff

In a press conference before the PGA Championship began, Tiger Woods said, in the world of professional golf, “It’s far more likely to be the case when you don’t win.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about.

Yesterday marked Tiger’s 13th major championship in his already staggering career.  He tied the lowest score ever for a major championship in the second round with a 63, which also tied the Southern Hills course record, and plenty of people saw it coming.  Going into Southern Hills last Thursday some critics picked Tiger to win it all based on a very simple argument-Tiger Woods IS Tiger Woods.

Case closed.

Despite that flawless logic, there were a few writers out there (myself included) who tried to remain optimistic about the rest of the field.  I’m no longer an optimist.

In fact, most of the “favorites” didn’t manage to do themselves any favors at all.  Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera, and Vijay Singh were all cut after the second round.  Padraig Harrington finished 8 over, Phil Mickelson 6 over, and Sergio Garcia simultaneously surprised and didn’t surprise fans by getting disqualified for signing an incorrect score card.

There were, however, a few big surprises this year, like John Daly.  Daly spent his practice time playing slots at Cherokee Casino, and then spent the opening round of play smoking cigarettes and drinking soda to beat the heat.  He finished in second place by the end of the day, and by some, Daly’s performance might be considered a fluke.  They are welcome to their opinions, but in the world of golf it’s pretty hard not to think of John Daly as a rock star, and that makes me smile.  Even if it is far more likely that he doesn’t win.

Maybe that’s what Tiger was talking about.

RED

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After his eight-stroke win at Bridgestone last weekend, there’s little doubt Tiger Woods is on a hot streak, but it’s nothing compared to a 108 degree heat index.  That’s the kind of temperatures 156 pro golfers will have to deal with this Thursday for the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa.

Ouch.

Traditionally the PGA Championship has always made the Pros sweat, and it should.  Over the last 14 years 80 percent of the winning margins were decided by two stokes or less.  This year’s Championship promises to be another squeaker for plenty of reasons.  First of all, it’s the last Major of the year and Tiger is 0-3.  Combined with what he did to the rest of the competition last Sunday it’s easy to understand why he’s the odds-on favorite, right?  Not quite.

Tiger might be hungry for his 13th major victory, but other wild cards like Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott are looking for their first major ever, and they’re good enough to pull it off.  The first three majors went to Zach Johnson, Padraig Harrington, and Angel Cabrera (despite Cabrera’s attitude). So, for anyone to count them out would be lunacy as well.  And let’s not forget about Phil Mickelson who has managed to pull off one major victory every year for the last three years.

Let’s be realistic about this.  There is absolutely no way for anyone to be certain of an outcome for this championship.  The only thing we can count on is a fierce match.

Heat makes people crazy, you know.

RED

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What a day at Oakmont last Sunday. The course was as unforgiving as my ex-mother-in-law. Forty-foot putts were rolling back and forth like pinballs. Triple bogeys and divots were served up like hot dogs.

In the end three players made a charge - Tiger, No. 3-ranked Jim Furyk, and the dark horse, Argentinean Angel Cabrera.

Woods missed a 30-footer on 18 that would have given him a share of the lead. Without a birdie on the day, he finished two over at 72.

Furyk smoldered and almost caught fire with some dazzling putts down the stretch, but left some shots in the rough on 17 and couldn’t capitalize.

Playing ahead of Woods and Furyk, Cabrera chain-smoked his way up the back nine, playing as if he were calm, but never looking it. In the end he became only the second player from Argentina to win a PGA major, and the first since 1967.

Revealing his secret for dealing with the stress and locking down his first major, Cabrera uttered one of the classic lines in golf history.

“There are some players that have psychologists,” he said. “I smoke.”

RED