Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

California, blessed with year-round good weather and a sunny attitude toward sports of all sorts, has been a cornucopia of memorable champions for all seasons. Last weekend, 18-year-old Tiger Woods of Cypress became the youngest winner ever of the prestigious U.S. Amateur Golf Championship, and he did so by making what was described as the greatest comeback in the history of the event. Woods made up a six-hole deficit in the 36-hole final to take the victory in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Add this son of a former Green Beret to the list of California legends.

Woods, who will enter Stanford University in the fall, already had achieved a great deal of notice. In his 1992 walk down “Hogan’s Alley”--Riviera Country Club--he made a respectable showing in the Nissan Los Angeles Open as one of the youngest players ever to compete in a PGA Tour event. Even as a 16-year-old he had attracted an entourage of followers, who wondered just what great things might be ahead.

Since then, he has developed and continued to reveal championship nerve, and his victory last Sunday gave him the U.S. Amateur title when he was one year younger than Jack Nicklaus was when that legendary golfer won it at the ripe old age of 19.

A U.S. Amateur title may be no guarantee of future achievement in golf, but in an era of often unrealized expectations, it was refreshing indeed to see a determined young competitor overcome a deficit with flair and verve, and make good on a promise of greatness.