Admittedly, I have never been the biggest fan of Tiger Woods. Growing up in Western New York as a fan of Buffalo’s sports teams, I have always found myself on the side of the underdog.
Still, I couldn’t turn away from the television each of the past two days. From the last time we saw Tiger on a golf course? How could anyone possibly forget that performance?
In the wake of that incredible display, golf has disappeared off the map for the vast majority of sports fans while he has rehabilitated from the broken leg and torn ACL he played through at Torrey Pines. But with his absence, as well as the birth of his first son, Charlie, plenty of questions have been raised:
Can he be as good as he was before?
Will he have the same drive?
Can he be better?
Well, Tiger didn’t prove that he necessarily is going to be better than before over the past two days, but he had his moments while beginning to knock off the rust.
The real question, at the end of the day, is if anyone is ever going to come close to matching wits with Tiger on the golf course. Other players have managed to win some majors here and there, such as Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh, and have tremendous careers. But absolutely no one has been able to consistently go toe-to-toe with him on the biggest stage.
The remarkable thing about Tiger’s career is that his greatest challenges have come from people with little recognition. Remember when Sergio Garcia attempted this shot at the 1999 PGA Championship? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPcddytnbFw While he since has become one of the biggest names in golf, at the time he was a 19-year-old kid who didn’t know better than to try and beat the great Tiger Woods.
The same goes for Bob May, the journeyman who went toe-to-toe with Tiger at the same tournament the following year. I remember watching the 2005 Masters with some friends in college, pulling hard for another under-the-radar player, Chris DiMarco, to do the unthinkable and knock off Woods in a head-to-head showdown in a major.
Then came the 16th green. Then came this shot. And although DiMarco gamely hung on, you knew, in the end, that Tiger would will his way to victory. Even last year, when Tiger won the most dramatic victory of his career, his opponent was another solid but unspectacular pro, Rocco Mediate.
These examples all come back to the same, central question facing the world of golf. It isn’t a question of whether or not Tiger Woods is going to be back as good or better than he was previously – I think we have all learned by now that anyone willing to doubt him does so at their own peril. The real question is whether or not we are ever going to see anyone actually rival Woods consistently on the golf course during his prime.
With three wins in the last six majors, Padraig Harrington has launched himself into the discussion of potential challengers to Woods. You always have Mickelson in the discussion, along with Singh and Ernie Els. But if that challenge is realistically going to come, it’s either going to be from Garcia, who is just entering his prime, or else it’s going to come from a youngster like Camilo Villegas or 19-year-old Irishman Rory McIlroy.
Let’s hope for the sake of interesting theatre that someone steps up and challenges Tiger, and forces him to have to work to win these next five majors to pass Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major championships. Otherwise, we may never get to see the highest level Woods has to offer.
And, as a golf fan, there would be nothing more disappointing than that.
Posted by tbontemps1 