FALCON POINT

Fred Faour: This is about Tiger Woods, so you will probably click on it

Fred Faour: This is about Tiger Woods, so you will probably click on it
Tiger Woods might officially be back. Andrew Redington/Getty Images

Tiger Woods will never win another major. 

-- Me, sometime after he got hit over the head by a golf club and before every major since.

Well, Tiger Woods came really close to finally proving me wrong on Sunday, finishing second in the PGA Championship, two shots behind Brooks Koepka. 

Brooks Koepka, winner of two majors this year and back to back U.S. Opens. Who knew? Well, hardcore golf fan. The general public has no idea how good he is, because Tiger's shadow continues to dominate golf coverage. 

USA Today might as well be Tiger Today as much as it is a PR tool for Woods. Every story on every golf tournament is about what Tiger did. The headline on their main story Monday? "Even Tiger haters should appreciate his results in this year's majors."

Um, no. That is a wee bit over the top. If you hate Tiger, you aren't going to appreciate anything. Nice try.

But USA Today is merely overdoing what any media outlet would do -- focus on the guy who gets clicks. 

Even now, Tiger moves the meter unlike few athletes in any sport. When he started making his move Sunday, my phone blew up. Twitter blew up. The sports world stopped to see what would happen. 

Not a single person outside the Koepka family (and those alleged Tiger haters) was rooting for anyone but Tiger, including me. The energy down the stretch was palpable. For a moment, I had hope that my tongue-in-cheek prediction was about to come crashing down. 

Instead, as good as Tiger was, the winner was better. But Tiger brings ratings. Page views. Interest. So every story is about Tiger, including this one. Sorry, Brooks, but Tiger brings in people who don't watch golf. 

The greatest ever?

Woods, by his own standard, remains well short of Jack Nicklaus' record for majors (18 to 14). He will be 43 next year, presumably healthy, and if his injuries hold off could have 3-4 more years of competitive play. I am no longer willing to joke that he won't win another. Four, though, seems highly unlikely. 

But judging the greatest needs to come at the end of a career, and Tiger is not there yet. He still has a shot to take that title. 

One thing he definitly is -- the most relevant golfer to ever play the game. When he is in contention, the world watches. He became a star -- and a fallen one -- during the social media age. We love to see excellence, then revel in failure, but love it even more when someone rises again. Tiger has been the perfect example of that, which is why we all watch. It's why we all tuned in Sunday, and will do it again if he is in the hunt for any majors next year. 

Would I have tuned in if it was Koepka and Adam Scott dueling down the stretch? Nope. I have Netflix. It may have been amazing to watch, but to quote Pulp Fiction, "Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie but I will never know since I wouldn't eat the ------."

But with Tiger? Absolutely. Count me in. Koepka may have the trophy, but Woods beings the viewers. And if he keeps playing like this, he always will. And maybe that prediction of mine will come crashing down.

I really hope it does. 

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
Jalen Green does it again! Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.

Jalen Green scored 27 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 110-92 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

It was the Rockets' ninth straight win, their longest winning streak since 2019.

At 36-35, Houston is now just a half game behind Golden State for the final spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.

“For sure, I’m looking at it,” Green said of the standings. “I was watching the Warriors last night. We’re making a push, and we’re executing so we’ve just got to stay the course.”

Green entered Monday tied for fourth in the NBA in scoring in March with 27.8 points per game on 51.4% shooting. Against Portland, he made 9 of 26 shots, including 4 of 12 from 3.

“He was kind of forcing it a little bit early and looked a little anxious, but he grinded it out and played the right way,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “It was huge for him to come out in the second half like that.”

Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. was out, serving a one-game suspension for his Saturday night fight with Jazz guard Kris Dunn. In his place, Jock Landale had a season-high 17 points and added nine rebounds.

“His energy really got us back in the game,” Udoka said. “His energy has been huge lately, and we really needed it tonight with a few guys struggling early.”

Houston outscored Portland 33-20 in the third quarter, taking an 80-71 lead into the fourth after trailing 51-47 at halftime.

Portland suffered its seventh straight loss and fell to 4-13 since the All-Star break.

Dalano Banton led the Blazers with 28 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, while Scoot Henderson added 15 points.

“We need to keep our defensive intensity up,” Henderson said. “That’s going to give us a chance every night — defensive intensity, moving the ball and just making the game easier for ourselves and not trying to one-on-one the whole game because we can’t win like that.”

In Saturday night’s loss to Denver, Portland became the second team to start five rookies since NBA box scores started tracking starters in the 1971-72 season. The Blazers started the same five rookies on Monday night.

Portland briefly held a nine-point lead in the first quarter but entered the second quarter down 28-25.

“I thought we had a really good first half and had some good moments in that third quarter, but the game kind of turned,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “They picked up their defensive pressure, and we just didn’t respond well to it. Give them credit. They turned it up when they needed to, defensively, against a young group.”

The Blazers were missing Deandre Ayton (left elbow tendinitis), Anfernee Simons (left knee tendinitis), Malcolm Brogdon (right elbow tendinitis) and Jerami Grant (right hamstring strain).

UP NEXT

Trail Blazers: At Atlanta on Wednesday night.

Rockets: Visit Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome