Now we know what it means to fight like a Tiger

There’s only one thing to say about Tiger Woods - the man has big balls!

We’ve always known that he has exceptional talent, but it’s one thing to be on top of your game and cruising and quite another to be off your game and battling someone who just won’t go away… and if that someone is a journeyman pro with a less than athletic swing and a double chin who is playing way beyond himself then it is even harder.

It’s one thing to be motivated for a duel against an Ernie Els or a Phil Mickelson but quite another when you’re expected to beat someone less talented than you who starts to play better than you and does things you didn’t think he was capable of. That makes it harder because it adds surprise and frustration to the equation.

For me Woods’ victory at Valhalla was the best of the five majors that already stand behind his name - in spite of the records he set. He showed he possesses the heart of a champion; that he can fight like the big cat of his nickname.

This was not a victory of awesome drives and soaring long irons - although they were present - but of sheer guts. There were a number of times during the final round that Tiger was staring into the barrel of a gun but somehow, from difficult positions, he got the ball up and down - none more so that at the 15th in regulation play when with May lying close for a birdie he was still away but then holed his par putt.

A miss there would have meant May putting to go into a three-stroke lead, but instead they left the green with the difference still only one. It was probably the crucial moment the championship swung towards Woods.

Much is made of Tiger’s power golf, but there is little doubt that he is one of the finest holers-out the game has seen. Even when he was winning the US and British Opens by record margins this ability to knuckle down in moments of crises was in evidence as, indeed, it was when he got up and down from an awkward lie at the second last hole to keep Sergio Garcia at bay in last year’s PGA at Medinah.

Then there is that truncated swing he is able to put on a long iron but still move the ball massive distances. It means he is able to keep the ball in play when he is not right on top of his game and is a crucial part of his awesome arsenal.

Let’s hand it to him. Young master Woods is one helluva player; underscored by the fact that he is now the first golfer in the history of the game to own the 72-hole scoring record in all four majors at the same time.

Thank heavens old man Earl Woods decided to give his only son a fiery nickname 24 years ago. Somehow it just wouldn’t have been the same if we had been singing the praises of a golfer known as Eldrick Woods!