Tiger Wood’s PGA Championship
April 14th 2019 may very well be the defining moment of 2019. A living legend long thought left for dead by others and even himself, recaptured the magic and captivating control he had over his peers, fans, and the world over -all with a little white ball iin a quiet town in Georgia.
We all know the story – a beloved son thrusted into the spotlight young once identified as a prodigy dominates and changes the industry forever only to be engulfed in conflict, betrayed by his body to hit rock bottom before miraculously recapturing his former place at the top of the heap. It’s a story Hollywood LOVES to tell and one the entire world loves being sold.
We have never seen such a monumental figure, (one that is arguably bigger than the exact thing that made them famous to begin with) that was so beloved – so idolized and worshiped fall SO far SOO fast! When the same instrument that made him famous was smashed through his SUV’s window right before he crashed into a fire hydrant Tiger’s world, our world was changed forever. Thanos’ SNAP would have paled in comparison to that event in the sports world, and the thought of recovering his image would have been an insurmountable task that not even The Avengers could have accomplished.
The news of the marital spat between an athlete and his soon to be ex-wife spread like high school gossip at lunch. The news wasn’t covered on just the golf channel and ESPN…CNN, FOX, MSNBC hell even financial segments found clever ways to broach the subject’s impact on Wall Street!! In the aftermath of the longer-than-normal news cycle the public opinion on Tiger was destroyed by everyone who had a mother, sister, or a modicum of respect for women BUT his core fans found solace in knowing that with a few more major victories paired with an expensive PR firm, all would eventually be restored. And those people would have been right…if poor press, public opinion and “Tiger Proofed” courses were all he had to worry about.
But we all know that isn’t the case. Tiger’s second greatest weapon…his body, began to fail him too. Balky knees away years, and a tortured back took away the game completely. We have all heard the stories of Tiger Woods being unable to play with his kids, unable to sit up in bed. Tiger admits that his last-ditch effort at normalcy was the spinal fusion surgery -Normalcy of a functioning adult male FORGET about a profession golfer!
Tiger Woods gave up the hope of returning to golf, some would say that this helped him adjust his priorities and humble himself. He became human, opening himself up to his peers on tour, and being less guarded overall. While Tiger was recovering his doubt in his ability to come back remained, and it was his caddie who was the only one in his camp that had faith in his man: pushing him in recovery and refusing several offers to caddie for other top golfers.
And like usual…the caddie was right! Tiger did come back on tour, he started slow but steady, and was in contention faster than anyone could have hoped. All along Tiger was different; appreciative of the fans and the moments, and the game he perhaps once took for granted. The PGA tour he left pre-injuries was not the same one he came back to. The tour was an average 15 yards longer, and the courses 200-300 yards further than that. But with some key equipment changes and his legendary work ethic he was able to end his year winning the Tour Championship which was an incredible story and would have been an incredible ending in and of itself.
But then cam April 14th. I will forever remember where I was, and who I was with when I watched his final put at 2:25pm. I will remember the crazy emotions, the surreal feeling of KNOWING that I was witnessing history. The confirmation of such when my phone blew up from not just my family and golf buds, but random co-workers and people I hadn’t spoken to in ages merely because they knew I was “that one friend who plays golf” in their friend circle.
It didn’t matter if you were a golf fan that afternoon (mostly morning due to scheduling around inclement weather) you were captivated by the story of the true GOAT recapturing what everyone thought he would never even sniff again.
After the putt, and the cheers, and the tears, and hugs and interviews, and the new formal wear was once again added to the closet the sports world and media took a deep breath…….and then proceeded to act like an addict who fell off the wagon after a decade of sobriety – we lost our minds and immediately reverted back to old ways.
In a span of a week we went from, “isn’t Tiger’s comeback to relevance a great story” to “Tiger isn’t what he once was, but he can compete at the Master’s because he knows the course so well” to “ Tiger is BACK” to “ Tiger is the greatest! He is the favorite for the next two majors & Jack’s record will fall!”
It didn’t matter that he just went a decade between majors, it didn’t matter that he had the same spinal fused back as last week that we winced every time he took a hack out of the rough, it didn’t matter that he was old enough to have one Major’s when some of his competitors were in diapers! We lost all sense of reality, because living in a world where Tiger was the best to ever do it and Tiger vs the field bets were fair, was so comforting and simple. We ached for a time where Sunday afternoons were the most united a community and country felt because we were all wearing our red polo’s and the Nike swoosh on the inside.
It is because of everything that I have written above, that I say that this next tournament is the most important tournament of his entire career.
I don’t mean, that if Tiger doesn’t win the tournament his career is a failure, or that he needs to finish in the top 5 for me to have faith in him. No, it is much more simple than that. Tiger needs only to compete, I mean REALLY COMPETE at this PGA championship, and it has everything to do with his finish.
After winning the Masters Tiger went underground – DEEP! He didn’t do the normal publicity tour, or even compete in a tune-up event before he tee’s it up on Thursday, and that’s because of how much the Master took out of him. Yes it was an emotional roller coaster, and not something he had experienced in quite sometime, but I mean physically it took a lot out of him. There is a clip on social media where days after the Masters Tiger can be seen gimp – gingerly making his way out to a group of people throwing a surprise sponsor party to toast his triumph. Tiger look like he had aged 30 years in 3 days and hardly looked like he could tie his shoes let alone strike a golf ball!
But Tiger was all smiles, soaking in the praise and sticking around for cake. It wasn’t that he was moving slowly that I was worried, or even that his PR person soon after spun the video and his subsequent absence from scheduled tune up tournaments…it was the smile -it was far too genuine!
Tiger has always had a million-dollar smile (likely closer to a billion, but hell I’m not his accountant) but it always was superficial. Tiger wasn’t happy with victories; he was intolerable of failure. His smile was not to show you how he was feeling, but rather a defense to insure you would ask more questions and get to close. Too close to what he was thinking, too close to his secrets, to close to his edge. It was this mentality that was just as vital to his success as the hours of practice and god given abilities. This was the secret ingredient to the Tiger Effect the rest of the tour loathed but accepted.
It wasn’t that Tiger impacted his will on their game (How could he? He rarely played in the same pairing as most of his challengers) but rather that when times got tough, he wouldn’t show discomfort, which is incredibly discomforting to others. The infamous Tiger stalk- marching down his prey/competitors really doesn’t exist. Tiger merely refuses to let his play slip in the most crucial of moments while others do. He doesn’t imagine what the impact of winning would feel like and how agonizing come close and failure would taste; he is much more focused on embracing the pain of that secular moment and not letting it grow beyond that.
Now that Tiger has been humbled, experienced doubt, tasted victory, and regained the adulation -how will he react? Can Tiger Woods be more open to fans, and friendly with peers, and be appreciative of the moment, and still have the same Vibranium level hardened focus? (I apologize for all the Marvel comic references; Avengers End Game CLEARLY is fresh in my mind!) I admit to not being sure. I have faith in Tiger’s game. He is STILL the best iron player on tour, on any given week he is the best putter on the course, his length is by no means an issue however not the ultimate weapon it once was, and he is the best tactician on tour. But will he still have the mental edge?
What I want NEED to see is if Tiger has not gotten content with what he was just able to accomplish. If Tiger goes out and is tired and or injured and doesn’t perform well that’s ok. He will have to learn to adjust his schedule even further and start to plan to prime himself for majors and nothing else. (Does tiger really need another rider cup appearance, Olympics, or FedEx cup to prove he’s the GOAT?) What can’t happen is that he does return healthy, is competitive through Saturday’s front nine and then he fade away completely. IF that happens, especially if doesn’t CLEARLY agitate and haunt him through the rest of the tournament and in interviews then Tiger fans will have a HUGE problem.
It would be natural to take a deep breath after what he has accomplished given where he was merely a year or two ago. Have you ever nearly been in harms way, almost gotten into an accident, or waited for test results? When you escape unscathed, especially when you thought you knew you wouldn’t, the bliss and emotional high you have afterwards is indescribable. For the next few moments, days, weeks, months you operate differently. You are hyper aware of your surroundings and appreciate things more. You slow down, and minor aggravations simply don’t bother you for a while. THAT is what can’t happen to Tiger, and if it has that last Masters was his last major.
A Tiger Woods who is understanding of his mortality, and accepting of minor failures is NOT a Tiger Woods who dominates and wins majors. Tiger hates losing far more than he loves winning, which is incredible given the sport he chose to play grants far more failures and close calls than wins. For those of you who have taken the time to read this and think, “Tiger would never do that! He is a champion and always will have that Tiger mentality.” I hope you are right but fear you are already wrong. The proof is in his own words.
Post Master win Tiger conducted the standard media session all champions have in front of a panel of hundreds. One reporter asked a straightforward question of Tiger that he has heard many times before. It went something like this:
Congratulations Tiger. This was an incredible victory for you, and one where you beat quite an impressive field. Given how you were victorious and playing well, how do you expect to fare at the PGA Championship in a couple weeks time and the rest of the year given how the Majors are at courses you have experienced great success on prior?
A relative softball question, but one that should/could yield a great quote for his article. Old Tiger would have said how he feels good about his game, how he still had a part or two that he needed to refine (while meticulously pointing out the exact shot or two that wasn’t exactly perfect and cost him to win by only 2 strokes instead of 6) but that its great to play a course that he feels comfortable at and expects to compete and give himself the best chance to win it at the end.
Instead Tiger ignores the question all together and states how he just wants to enjoy this win right now and start to think about the PGA championship in a few days. All that he could say was that he knew he DEFFINITELY wasn’t going to even touch a club over the next day or so. If old Tiger knew that ‘Old Tiger’ said that, he would hop in a time machine and give him a two iron stinger to the face!! This seemingly throw away quote to a softball question is quite telling, and very alarming! If tiger stays content for too long, major championships will become a distant memory once again, and Jack will fear not of the stalking Tiger.
Thursday the PGA Championship begins, and Tiger will begin the hunt in a fantastic group of Francesco Molinari and Brooks Koepka. If Tiger is ill prepared, he will quickly be exposed and left behind. That would be disappointing, but not the end of the world. IF Tiger manages to be within a few strokes of the leaderboard going into the weekend, is a non-factor and isn’t burning more red that his iconic mock polo……than the legendary King California Tiger just might go extinct!
….and that is MY PARSPECTIVE.
Tiger’s adulation and following would classify as a cult except everyone was a member and there wasn’t an opposition or non-conformer call us one!
