Watching the Masters golf tournament is one of the highlights of spring. I typically avoid all media on Thursdays and Fridays so I can watch the replayed coverage at night, ignorant of who shot what earlier in the day.

After Friday’s second round, when Tiger Woods was with five or six shots, I figured he was headed for his 5th Green Jacket. Alas, it wasn’t to be; like so many others, Tigers’ putter failed him at crucial times on Sunday, allowing Phil Mickelson to cruise to a three shot win.

I couldn’t believe when I got up this morning reading and hearing about criticism of Tiger for not winning. The pundits were saying, basically, that despite amassing a record that is far superior to anyone who has ever played the game, he’s somehow deficient for not being able to come from behind and win.

Admittedly, when watching a tournament, I typically hope for bad things to befall Tiger, as they did yesterday. But by the same token if he’s not in the field, I don’t watch it.

Golf is unlike other games in that the tiniest variation in a swing can mean the difference between a 280-yard drive down the middle and being in the trees or out of bounds. Everyone hits bad shots. Nobody can win every tournament, but nobody has come closer to doing so than Tiger. No criticism of him n his golf game anyway n is justified. While he Tiger often makes golf look easy, it’s not. I’ve never watch him when he didn’t hit some shot that amazed me. That’s because he works harder at his game than anyone who has ever played with the possible exception of Ben Hogan, and may even him. There’s no easy way to play good golf.

When I wasn’t watching the Masters on Saturday and Sunday I was spreading mulch.

In the past, I had always purchased it by the bag. It’s hard lugging those things around, trying to get them open and dumping them, so this year I decided to get a bulk delivery, purchasing 12 yards. I went out Saturday morning ready to get to work, but discovered on about my second wheelbarrow full that I was mistaken. It was like mining coal. I did about a quarter of what I had planned to do Saturday before going in to rest my back.

Spreading mulch is a lot like golf, there’s no easy way to do it.