Print this page  |  Close Window

By John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- I could tell you everything I know about horse racing in the same amount of time it takes to lay a dollar on the superfecta. Horses scare me, especially when the long shot has the lead at the final turn. I know slightly more about boxing but none of it first-hand. Well I was knocked out in the third grade by a girl named Lulu but I don't think that counts.

Our John Maginnes will be focused in on the Tiger/Vijay showdown in Charlotte this weekend. (Schultz/WireImage)

This weekend the greatest horse race in the world and the biggest boxing match in years will be competing for headlines. It says volumes about our sports-crazed country that both events are expected to break records. Interestingly enough, there is expected to be considerable crossover. I know that I would likely watch both events but there is another event, this one by chance, that will have my undivided attention.

Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh have won more events in the last three years than any five players combined. Tiger has been the No. 1 player for most of his career. Vijay knocked him off the mountain for a time in 2005, but Tiger rebounded and has been the top dog ever since. Incidentally, it took a nine-win season for Vijay to accomplish the feat.

They are the only two multiple winners on the PGA TOUR this year. They are playing on one of the best tests of golf the TOUR offers each year. And they are playing together on Saturday.

While much of the sports world will be focusing on an equine, the golf world is in for quite a treat. Quail Hollow is the perfect venue for the match-up. The course is a complete test of a player's game. The ability to comfortably work the ball both ways is of utmost importance. A combination of touch and creativity around the greens is required. As the week rolls on the 2-inch rough will become closer to 4.

Quail Hollow has intimidation and length combined with grace and beauty. It does not beat a player up as much as it wears him down. Every hole is unique. The most important part of the golf course is that it is fair. Every hole rewards well-executed shots. And every hole punishes the mediocre.

The closing stretch is simply the best on the PGA TOUR. The 17th is one of the hardest par 3s TOUR players will face all year. At around 200 yards, it is not overly long. The green sits just above a rock wall that borders the lake that is the center piece of the property. On Thursday, as the wind whipped off the water, most players bailed out to the collection area right of the green. Even that is no bargain, though. Less than half the field is successful getting the ball down in two from right of the green.

Stewart Cink and Joe Durant both hit the green on Thursday. As they were walking to the putting surface they said the shot is so scary that there should be barf bags on the tee.

The tournament will be won on Sunday over that closing stretch. Someone will tame those beasts and become the fifth winner of the Wachovia Championship. However, someone will lose the tournament there on Saturday, too.

On Friday, Padraig Harrington was one shot clear of the field on the 16th tee. Going into the weekend, though, the Irishman now finds himself three shots off the pace. His bogey-triple bogey finish could very well have ended his hopes for victory.

It should be interesting to see if any of the long shots come in at Quail Hollow on Saturday and test the perennial favorites who will be in the last group. Quail Hollow is not a golf course with a big knock-out punch. It beats you down with body blows.

Saturday will be one of the most exciting days in American sports in quite some time. The annual Run for the Roses is a favorite whether you are a horse racing fan or not. The Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather fight is supposed to save boxing. A Tiger-Vijay showdown is the perfect icing on the cake. I heard there was some basketball, too, but I haven't looked into it.