WPCNR THE PRESS TENT. By Johnny Birdie. June 20, 2007: Well, you have to hand it to Tiger Woods. He's got his wife expecting any moment. He has the media hounding him all weekend about him making a move, then the geniuses in the sports sections, the networks, and the professional sportswriting press get all over him for finishing second by one stroke in the US Open. They say he's human. Not as good as he was. Losing his touch.  They did not know what they were seeing Sunday.

For Sunday, Tiger Woods showed he was the Master of them all.

The losers in life -- the sportswriting fraternity -- criticising one of the great winners and losers of all time for finishing second? Do they really  think that criticising his game will make him better? Poppycock! What fools.

Do they recognize how tough it had to be for him --   putting on a championship performance despite the worry -- and I assure you there was worry -- about his wife expecting a child? In many ways this Open was Tiger's best performance.

And how about the sportsmanship. There is Tiger joking and congratulating Angel Cabrera around the cup. You know it takes a really big special person to be that gracious and congratulatory in that situation. What a hero. Such a role model. A young man wise beyond his years.

It is Woods who sets the example for sports. He works very hard at his game. He tries his best. He concentrates. He retains control of his emotions at all times -- something we all could be better at. He is gracious to his competitors whom he makes better competitors. Make no mistake, they all compete better because of him.

No, the sportswriters really missed the story this weekend.

The story was that Tiger Woods and Angel Cabrera the winner showed us how sportsmen compete. Cabrera struggling out of poverty -- as did Mr. Woods -- to win the U.S. Open. And the press concentrated on how Tiger Woods lost the tournament. It was a great sports story and the sporting press completely missed it.

That is nuts. Mr. Cabrera played incredibly on the final day. Tiger played tough and tried to catch up and came very close to tying.  In the end, Mr. Cabrera was so happy and Tiger Woods you could see in the photographs was happy for him, respectful of the achievement. Something the sporting press did not show in how they reported the event. The leads were that Tiger had lost it -- not that the Angel had won it.

Even in defeat the great Tiger Woods showed his greatness by saluting Mr. Cabrera's achievement calling it a fine round of golf today.

He is a fine young man. They both are fine young men. They represent the best.

I for one cannot think of going out an playing as great a game as Tiger did with the knowledge I was about to become a father.

Tiger will surpass Jack Nicklaus record of winning 19 Major golf tournaments, it is just a matter of time. He knows this. And, you know, he ranks right up there with Jack Nicklaus as a human being and sportsman, too.