Ok, some of my predictions about Tiger and this Masters have been way off so far, but I am still convinced he has no chance of actually winning this thing. If he does, it will simply be the greatest athletic achievement I have ever witnessed.

Regardless, barring a complete unforeseen Sunday disaster, I am completely shocked at how well this Masters has gone both on and off the course for our former hero.

His play, while far from perfect, has been beyond remarkable for someone who has not played competitively for five months, was in hiding for three months, and has had his entire life totally turned upside down (not to mention presumably not having been laid in over four months).

Off the course, things have gone even better for him. He handled the pathetic softballs tossed to him but the wussified press nearly perfectly and his few slip ups (comparing his comeback to Ben Hogan’s???) were largely ignored by the media. Also not mentioned, incredibly, by the golf press (specifically The Golf Channel and CBS ) was the beyond creepy and misleading  new Nike ad which uses Tiger’s philandering dead father to help take advantage of this ugly scandal and the revelation that one of Tiger’s conquests/victims was the 21 year old daughter of his neighbor who he met when she was just 14.

Can you imagine the firestorm that would have ignited had just that revelation come out the week of The Masters? But much like Bill Clinton before him, Tiger is benefiting greatly from the sheer magnitude of all of his transgressions and the media’s distaste for the details as well as their propensity for getting easily bored.

While I am not shocked (though I am disappointed) by the putrid performance of the media, I am completely dumbfounded that the tabloid press has apparently wimped out big time. I can’t believe that none of those outlets saw the amazing opportunity they had to rather easily wreak havoc at sports most prestigious event and create enormous ratings/traffic.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that apparently not even ONE “patron” of the tournament had the guts to express their displeasure with Tiger verbally during the tournament. It has not surprised me that the overall reaction to him has been positive. After all, most people are wimps (O. J. Simpson has always said that the vast majority of bystanders he ran into after he got out of prison were very friendly)  and golf fans are trained to cheer for literally everyone. But not even one fan with enough balls to let Tiger know that there are those among us who have not and will not forgive him for his massive betrayal of our trust?!! Even when doing so would not only be justified but would also likely lead to instant fame?

I just don’t get it.