A little defense might take Tiger a long way

Only Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus have ever gone back-to-back at Augusta.

And it's hard to imagine Zach Johnson placing his name on that list of repeating Masters champs.

But that doesn't mean Woods can't learn something from the way Johnson played in winning last year, and again Thursday when Johnson shot a very solid 2 under that left him only a pair off the lead.

Johnson plays a very simple, quiet game and takes what the course gives him, which doesn't work in a lot of tournaments, but it does at Augusta. So assuming he doesn't go to pieces, he's likely to be in the neighborhood come Sunday.

On the other hand, Tiger's greatest strength, his aggressive belief that he can hit any shot at any time from anywhere, is also occasionally a detriment, because he rarely plays defense unless he's in the lead.

And sometimes, as Michael Jordan often proved, you have to allow the game to come to you, and win it with defense when you can't get the ball to drop.

Tiger didn't play poorly in shooting an even-par 72 Thursday that left him only 4 shots off the lead, but after nailing 12 straight pars to start the day, he went bogey-bogey-eagle, and unsatisfied with getting back to even, he had to scramble again on 17.

If you recall, the way he played 17 and 18 a year ago cost him the tournament, but that didn't stop him from busting out the driver on the short par-4 17th, which he could have played easily with his 3-wood.

Instead, he drove it into the trees, and only the Woods magic saved the hole with a difficult par putt.

On 18, he again went to the driver and hit a bomb just short of a fairway bunker that -- had he reached it -- would have left him some work for his par again.

Still, despite a ragged day, he played 17 and 18 even and that's a big upgrade from last year.

But let's remember that all this talk of a grand slam is based on him playing the best golf of his life to end 2007 and that the season sets up nicely for him after Augusta, with his favored Torrey Pines hosting the U.S. Open.

However, he's not yet back to where he was in September, and any thought of a sweep begins or ends this weekend.

If Tiger remembers he's not playing against the field, that no one can beat him but Tiger Woods, he might slow it down, play a little defense, and collect his fifth Masters.

All it's going to take is a little patience.

A grand career

Watching the hoopla surrounding Bill Buckner's appearance in Boston this week, it's apparent that an entire generation, or two, knows Buckner only for his infamous Game 6 error in 1986.

What many don't know, or have forgotten, is that he was a terrific all-around player with tremendous speed until he injured both ankles, and moved from the outfield to first base, where he became an excellent fielder.

On two bad legs that robbed him of many games played, he still collected 2,715 hits, good for 54th on the all-time list, and more than Hall of Famers Billy Williams, Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, Reggie Jackson and Ernie Banks, to name just a few.

Buckner, easily the Cubs' best player during his seven-plus seasons in Chicago, is much more than just a punch line, and his career as one of the best pure hitters you'll ever see was much more than the one play for which he'll always, unfortunately, be remembered.

Thanks for nothing

So now both Moises Alou and Dusty Baker have exonerated the Foul Ball Fan. That's sweet, since they were the two men who ran the guy out of town in 2003, with plenty of help from a breathless media corps.

It was Alou who threw a fit on the field, lighting the fire, and Baker who threw gasoline on it after the game, saying, "I thought we had (Luis) Castillo out from fan interference. We should have had an out.''

Baker mentioned "fan interference'' three times in less than a minute.

Now, they want the guy to get on with his life.

That's awfully kind of them.

Short stops

Orlando Cabrera has been merely average in the field for the White Sox thus far, missing some chances to make plays that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen believes he will eventually make this season.

"It's early. He's going to be fine,'' Guillen said. "He's a great baseball player. That's why we got him.

"He's probably got to learn our (pitching) staff a little bit, and then he'll be in a better position on some balls.''

Ivan Boldirev-ing

Congrats to the Under-19 Chicago Mission girls, who captured the USA Hockey national championship with a shocking 2-1 victory over Little Caesars on Sunday in West Chester, Pa.

Making it even more amazing, 11 of the girls on the U-19 Mission are young enough to have played in the Under-16 tourney.

The quote

Deion Sanders to Fox Sports Net: "Although I didn't win a Super Bowl with the Atlanta Falcons, I would say I'm a Falcon. That was the only place I could call home. Every other place, I was a hired gun.''

Best headline

Sportspickle.com: "Vegas picks Notre Dame to lose its spring game.''

And finally ...

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: "Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen will be out six weeks with a broken middle finger. He says it happened while fielding a groundball -- vehemently denying the obvious speculation he got carried away while saluting ex-manager Tony La Russa.''