Anyway, it turned out that Forego was a late bloomer and, not having had a good Triple Crown season, he had dubious value in breeding and was gelded. While Forego might not agree that was good luck, it turned out to be a great thing for sports fans because long after Secretariat had retired to stud and was partying in the blue grass of Kentucky, Forego was winning races in the most entertaining of fashions. He became the people's champion.
What they do in handicap races is put added weight on the favorites to try to even up the field. Forego was constantly asked to carry more than 130 pounds, giving away a dozen or more pounds to his opponents, and the added weight and his already big size meant he often drifted to the outside rail and that it took him a while to get up to full speed. And what that meant was thrilling come-from-behind victory after thrilling come-from-behind victory.
In 57 races, Forego won 34 and finished in the top-three 50 times. Very Tiger-like numbers. And it was never easy because they kept piling the weight on him. If you want to see a great sporting achievement, go to YouTube and stick Forego's name into the search engine. When the results come up click on the 1976 Marlboro Cup, a race in which Forego came from eighth place to nip Honest Pleasure in a photo finish. That's even more impressive when you consider that Forego was carrying 137 pounds -- 18 more than Honest Pleasure -- on a sloppy track.
Tiger sitting out is just leveling the playing field. If Tiger had played The Barclays there was the possibility that an outcome even more embarrassing than him pulling out could have happened. What if Woods had piled up a lead so large in the first three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments that it didn't matter where he finished in the Tour Championship? What if he went into that climatic event having already clinched the $10 million annuity? Now that would have been silly.
So you see, Tiger was really looking out for the best interest of the PGA Tour by pulling out of this week's tournament. It was a totally selfless move by a man who clearly wants to protect the competitive integrity of the tour. All he was doing was giving the other guys a chance. If I were Vijay Singh -- the No. 2 guy in FedEx Cup points -- I'd send Tiger a thank-you note, even knowing it would be returned unopened. But that's another column.
It's settled then. Tiger Woods has to sit out one of the FedEx Cup playoff events each year to make it a more equal playing field. Either that or he has to play 72 holes -- actually 288 holes cumulatively in the four events -- with 137 pounds strapped to his back, which would be sort of like playing while lugging Paris Hilton (and a couple of bricks) around the course. Now that's a compelling image. Come to think of it, the tour might want to go that route instead of making Tiger sit out an event. It's all about maintaining the integrity of the competition.
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