by Digger

2008 PGA Men's Tour tees off January 3rd at the Mercedes-Benz Championships in Hawaii. 2007 Player of the Year, Tiger Woods, earned his fourth straight POY and will be shooting for his tenth career award. Tiger is lightyears ahead of his competition as he continues to mystify the world with his domination.

Every once in a long while an athlete appears who changes their sport forever. Many names decorate this short list of legends, trend setters, innovators, game changers and dream makers.

Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson forever changed baseball. Wayne Gretzky shattered nearly every NHL scoring record and could very well be one player in all of sports never to be duplicated. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell and Shaquille O'Neal redefined how big men play Center in the NBA. Dr. J (Julius Erving) soared above the paint, Magic Johnson dazzled with spectacular no-look passes, Larry Bird amazed the amazing... then Michael Jordan entered the scene and defied logic. MJ did it all and was arguably the games most celebrated athlete. Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, Tom Landry and Bill Walsh changed how NFL games were scripted. Johnny Unitas, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Montana, John Elway, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Jerry Rice are some of the household names which excelled above the rest at their respective positions in the NFL.

Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus are some of golfs legends who defined their sport... then........ along came Tiger Woods.

Tiger may go down as the most dominant Champion in the history of professional sports. He has completely taken over golf and was an instant celebrity sensation even before turning pro. His energy has been inspiring and motivational to divot makers of all ages. His play is admired and envied by fellow professionals who are left in his dust. Tiger not only wins tournaments, he often leaves the field multiple strokes behind. He's taken aim at Nicklaus' record 18 Majors titles and is on pace to leave Jack a distant second when his magical career concludes.

Many great players are enjoying fine careers on the links. Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Steve Stricker and KJ Choi round out 2-5 on 2007 PGA Tour Money Leaders (Tiger nearly doubled 2nd best). Many names not mentioned in this ever growing and popular sport make up the most competitive links field in its' history. And yet, even the best of the best find themselves a distant second by tourneys end most often ... watching Tiger standing alone raising his newest trophy cup, crystal or Green Jacket.

As a fan, watching Tiger play is a privilege as history unfolds. Stay tuned... he's only just begun.