An Original That Can’t Be Duplicated

Tiger Woods won the Canadian Open on Sunday with a remarkable shot on the 18th hole--a six-iron from a fairway bunker, 218 yards, over water to within 18 feet of the flag in the first cut of rough.

He chipped to within a foot of the hole and tapped in for a birdie and a round of 65.

The Toronto Sun asked three golf professionals in the Oakville, Ontario, area to go to the 18th Monday to try it. None came closer than 30 feet, each trying several times.

One of the participants, Ashley Chinner, said: ‘The remarkable thing is that Tiger did it with so much on the line. I think everyone knows that he can pull that shot off. But under that situation, it was incredible.”

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Trivia time: What was U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz’s gold medal total in the 1972 Summer Olympics at Munich, Germany?

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Fun guy: Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star suggests that Utah’s Rick Majerus should replace Bob Knight as Indiana’s basketball coach.

“Majerus is the antithesis of Knight: a big, cuddly bear of a guy who has a closet filled with oversized red sweaters. He would make Assembly Hall a happy place again, not just by winning, but by infusing the program with joy.

“There is life after Bob Knight. There is a good life after Bob Knight. This is not the end of anything. This is just a beautiful and exciting new beginning.”

It almost brings tears to your eyes.

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Old news: Tim Keown of ESPN The Magazine asks this of NBC’s Olympic coverage:

“How many marriages will break up when dopey husbands everywhere sit down in front of the TV and say, ‘Oh, hell, hon--the Russian won this stupid floor exercise 12 hours ago. Can’t we watch the ball game?’ ”

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Tongue twister: From comedy writer Jerry Perisho: “Tim Biakabutuka played Sunday for the Carolina Panthers against the San Francisco 49ers. During the game, he picked up 75 yards, four first downs, three consonants and a vowel.”

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Tough game: From Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show”: “Our best wishes to Troy Aikman--he had to go to the hospital recently for suffering his third concussion in two years. I hope he’s OK. You know what the Cleveland Browns call it when their quarterback gets three concussions? Fourth down.”

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Overmatched: Jim Armstrong, in the Denver Post: “How do you know when you’ve arrived at the Olympics? I wasn’t here five minutes before I spotted a Chinese woman who could bench-press me with one arm.”

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More Armstrong: “By the numbers, Herschel Walker ran for 229 yards in his first two college games. [Colorado’s] Marcus Houston has run for 250 in his first two games on campus.”

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Giddyap: Boston Red Sox pitcher Bret Saberhagen, volunteering to pitch in pain if General Manager Dan Duquette were to ask:

“I’m kind of the horse, and he’s the jockey. It depends on how he wants to whip me . . . but I don’t want to be glue in the near future.”

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Trivia answer: Seven, four individual events and three in relays.

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And finally: During the New York Jets-New England Patriots game Monday night, ABC commentator Dennis Miller alluded to, among other things, the House of Plantagenet.

Said Howard Manly of the Boston Globe: “He might want to host a new game show, ‘Guess What I’m Talking About.’ ”