Tiger Woods notched his 80th career PGA Tour win at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta Sunday in what is now hailed by many as the greatest comeback in sporting history. Whether or not that is true, it was an exceptional day for the golf world while, at the same time, it was a contest lacking true drama from a competitive perspective.
Tiger made his statement right from the get-go, with a split fairway on hole #1, followed by a crisp iron shot that landed 10 feet below the hole. He finished it off with a center cut birdie putt that was vintage Tiger. “Come and get me” he seemed to be saying to his fellow golfers as he pushed his overnight lead of three strokes to four. They all heard it, all his putative conquerors, and none answered the challenge.
His playing partner, Rory McIlroy, succumbed to the final group pairing pressure early on. His little wedge shot on #1 was badly tugged to 30 feet left of the hole and the confused look on his face afterward gave a clue to how his day would unfold. Back to back bogeys on holes #3 and #4 confirmed that Rors was done and dusted for the day. There’s some terrible irony there, as Rory has been the closest thing to another Tiger we’ve seen in the past twenty five years. His long game is the most dominant in the game and his stretch of peerless golf from 2012 to 2014 was worthy of comparison to Tiger. He won two of his four majors by 8 shots, margins that conjured up visions of Tiger’s dominance.
Rory has proven to be susceptible to final round pressure, especially when the stakes are historic. I believe his early collapse at Augusta this past April inhibits his play at crucial moments. Perhaps the camaraderie of Ryder Cup team play will lift him from that funk but I think those dragons of doubt won’t be completely slain until he is fitted for a green jacket.
Tiger, on the other hand, never faltered in his self belief, neither yesterday nor during the years spent in the golf wilderness. Tiger is back in the winner’s circle for the first time since 2013 but this is not the first significant comeback he’s made. After the Thanksgiving 2009 car crash, Tiger endured a public humiliation that was as severe as any I’ve ever seen. He did penance, although many thought he was less than sincere, had treatment and then got back to being Tiger Woods, once again scaring the horse feathers out of his golfing brethren.
In 2013 Tiger had five PGA Tour victories and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year. Then his body gave way and the questions about his future began. Tiger had questions, as did we, but his were focused on his back and his pain. The golfing public were aware of his physical challenges but we gave a lot more lip service and import to the emotional and mental obstacles we thought Tiger faced then Tiger ever did.
It wasn’t a sense of diminished mental acuity or self confidence that kept Tiger non-competitive for a four year period. It should now be clear to all the talking heads, the golf cognoscenti and the rest of us know nothing’s that Tiger’s travails were all based on his broken body not on his bruised psyche. He had proved that with his first comeback in 2013. The assassin that was Tiger Woods on the golf course had never vanished, he was just waiting for his full tool box to be available once again.
Tiger now has all his tools back at hand. In the past, Tiger’s on course record generated another reality that he used to his great advantage. The Tiger Mystique was as palpable as his 3-wood stinger and was a fifteenth club in his bag, week in, week out. It is back, it was there in spades on the first tee Sunday, and it had it’s predictable effect. Rory crumbled, Justin Rose stumbled and no one in the field gave Tiger any real cause for concern.
In dollar terms, Rosie was the biggest winner Sunday at East Lake, as he collected a $10 million dollar first place check as FedEx Cup Champion. As a newly minted World #1, he justly deserved recognition for an outstanding season that has seen him win four times around the globe. It’s strange that the biggest cash prize in golf was relegated to a sideline story but that is what can happen in a Tiger Woods world.
We’re back to day’s past and the future should be plenty of fun.
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