Can Tiger still score if he doesn't win?

After close to a lifetime of research and the last four days in front of the television set, I have reached an important conclusion: could I have picked a sport to have played professionally, it would have been golf.

The Master's tournament this weekend clinched it for me because you can do it for most of your life. There was Tom Watson, a mere two years younger than me, in contention for the title until today. There was Fred Couples, 50, who came within a few strokes of winning.

Even that rascal, Tiger Woods, who would be at 34 considered past his prime in most sports, probably has his best golf years in front of him, although his peak libido time has probably passed (just as well). He finished fourth today.

Athletes in the major spectator sports, especially football, are generally battered and retired by the time they're Tiger's age, often too beaten up physically to go out on the town (just we well.) The baseball player still in the Big Leagues after age 35 is exceptional. Basketball and tennis players, whose exertions makes my knees wince just to look at them, usually have a sharp dropoff in skills not long after 30 and often can barely limp home to their spouses (just as well).

I know the mental pressures of golf are brutal, not so much for those on the leader board of the Master's as those struggling to qualify in big-money events. Still, from the perspective of a hacker and fan, it sounds better than making cold calls trying to sell vinyl siding, which also lacks the sex appeal of being a big-time athlete. (just as well, or we'd all be getting our houses resided semi-annually, I suspect.)