By Joe Becker

My golf season is officially set to begin. If you talk to the guys in the Sports Office, I generally don't play golf during the Winter. I usually stop when October hits and wait until April to play.

The weather we are having right now is amazing...and the Masters is going on this weekend, so I am fired up. Speaking of the Masters...Tiger woods is three over par...but I still think he's going to win. He's only five back...and when Sunday rolls around, I think he'll be right there on the back 9.

I was talking to someone in the office today about Tiger and his historic win at the U.S. Amateur at Pumpin Ridge golf course in 1996. It was amazing and there are several things I'll never forget about that week.

I was at Pumpkin Ridge the Friday before the Amateur and did an interview with Tiger. He politely asked if we could do the interview after he hit some balls. No problem there. Tiger warmed up and was crushing drive after drive....shot after shot.
We did the interview and one of the questions I asked Tiger was if he felt the pressure because everyone expected him to win...even back then. Tiger's response. "That's fine, I expect myself to win too. That's just something I always do. Why go to a tournament if you don't expect to win." Tiger was just 20 years old. He did win and made history with his third consecutive US Amateur Title.

One other thing about the U.S. Amateur. Unlike most golf tournaments...there weren't ropes. The golf fans can walk right on the course right next to the players. Walking with Tiger on the way into the record books. Pretty memorable stuff.

Well, the Blazer game has started...so I'm going to watch them play the Rockets here on Channel 8.

And, enjoy that sunshine coming through the sports office window.