Elin's taking Tiger to the cleaners

Tiger Woods won't talk about the state of his marriage to Elin but it has been speculated for a while now that divorce is in the works. Well, it's reportedly almost settled. And in it, Elin is reportedly taking most everything Tiger owns. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that she will get $750,000,000.

That's right, $750 million.

In addition, Elin will get their soon-to-be-completed $80 million mansion in Jupiter, Fla. In addition, Tiger will not be able to introduce their children to any woman he is not married to (so I guess Sam won't be getting makeup tips and dance lessons from pole dancers when she becomes a teenager). Elin does forfeit the right to detail her relationship with Tiger and the last few months of their marriage in any interviews or in a tell-all book so Tiger's got that going for him.

So for her husband cheating on her with a cavalcade of bimbos, waitresses, strippers, porn stars and escorts, plus public humiliation when these affairs were revealed to the world, Elin gains $750 million. That's probably much more than she expected to be worth when she began her career as a nanny in Sweden all those years ago.

Remembering Carnoustie

In honor of Dustin Johnson's hideous collapse today at the U.S. Open  (11-over 82 for the day after leading through three rounds), let's take a look back at Jean Van de Velde's legendary collapse at the 1999 U.S. Open:

Channeling Jean Van de Velde

And the U.S. Open is wide open.

Dustin Johnson entered the final round firmly in the lead but the first 13 holes have produced a Van de Velde-ian collapse as he was an incredible 9-over on those. So he's out. (Most likely.)

Also not up to the pressure is one Eldrick Woods. Fresh off a dominant 66 yesterday, Tiger hasn't been able to handle the pressure of flying banners overhead and is 4-over through 14. So he's out. (Most likely.) So much for yesterday marking the return of his dominance.

At the moment, the only person with an under-par score for the tournament is leader Graeme McDowell, who's composite score is 2-under through 13. The only person among the leaders under par for the day is Davis Love III, 1-under through 16. So it's a wide open finish.

Lurking

Now this is the Tiger we've all been waiting for.

He shot a 66 today to creep back into it at Pebble Beach. He enters final round play at the US Open one-under par and in third place, five strokes behind leader Dustin Johnson. It used to be situations like this that caused leaders to fold, knowing the world's greatest golfer was charging. We'll see how Johnson handles the situation for, really, the first time in his career.

If Tiger Woods is back, he started to show it yesterday and will have to show it again tomorrow.

Fun Sunday in sports ahead

Big day in sports today:

French Open final (Rafael Nadal-Robin Soderling).

Final round of the Memorial (21-year-old Rickie Fowler leads, Phil and Tiger have virtually no shot).

Yankees-Blue Jays, Padres-Phillies, Rays-Rangers, plus Ubaldo Jimenez tries to go to 11-1 against the hapless Diamondbacks.

Stanley Cup Final, Game 5, Blackhawks-Flyers tied 2-2.

NBA Finals, Game 1, Lakers lead the Celtics 1-0.

Lefty wins the Masters, Tiger finishes fourth

Jim Nantz’s contrived call on Phil Mickelson’s winning the Masters? “A win for the family!”

This coming from a guy who just went through a bitter divorce with his wife and “traded up” by dating a 29-year-old.

A win for the family, indeed.

No matter, it was a thrilling and emotional win for Mickelson, who captured his third Green Jacket for his wife Amy who has been diagnosed with cancer. As America comes to grips with Tiger Woods' marital infidelities, it should also appreciate the dedication to his wife that Lefty has shown throughout their relationship and especially in the last year. If Mickelson's triumph didn't provide golf with the proper image it has been lacking since Thanksgiving night, nothing will.

Setting up Sunday

Not sure what I'll remember most out of Saturday's play at the Masters. Phil Mickelson's incredible consecutive eagles? Tiger Woods' shaky front-nine followed by a strong back-nine? Fred Couples' incredible shot? Lee Westwood playing like he didn't have a care in the world in maintaining the lead?

Westwood owns a one-stroke lead over Mickelson and is four up on Tiger and K.J. Choi. Looking forward to see if Tiger has a Sunday miracle in him, if Westwood can handle the Sunday pressure and if Lefty can avoid the Sunday back-nine collapse that has defined his career (even with the two Green Jackets he has won).

Tiger is lurking

Lee Westwood was in position to take a commanding lead in the Masters, at nine-under through 10 holes of the second round today. Instead, he failed to dominate the back-nine as he had the front-nine and ended up losing a stroke on the final seven holes, placing him in a tie for the lead with Ian Poulter at eight-under through 36 holes.

What does this all mean? Well you know what it means. It means Tiger Woods is going to win this thing, isn't he? Another solid round today has him six-under through 36 holes, tied for third with Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim, K.J. Choi and Ricky Barnes. I know I speak for all when I say that the world hopes Saturday's play leads to Tiger and Phil being paired together in the final grouping on Sunday. It's what we all root for in every major, and that was before Tiger's world turned upside down on Thanksgiving.

My preferred final foursome: Tiger, Phil, K.J. Choi and Ian Poulter.

Hello, World

The commercial? Insulting. Tasteless. Creepy.

The golf game? Still there.

Tiger's performance today at the Masters basically said the exact same thing he said to us in 1996:

"Hello, World."

This nine-day stretch

Saturday: Final Four

Sunday: Yankees-Red Sox open the baseball season, Donovan McNabb gets traded to Washington

Monday: Baseball’s real Opening Day (including Jason Heyward's debut), Tiger’s press conference, Duke-Butler national championship

Tuesday: Yankees-Red Sox, Crosby-Ovechkin, UConn women go for another national title

Wednesday: Yankees-Red Sox series finale, Melo-Durant

Thursday-Sunday: The Masters

Good week to be a sports fan. And the Stanley Cup playoffs begin next Wednesday.

Tiger has spoken

Tiger carried himself well in his presser, I must say, although I found it a little weird that he was calling reporters by nicknames. That Tiger, always such a media-friendly open book.