Thursday, May 13, 2010

Woods Needs to Win Back Fans, and Tournaments

I was watching a program on the history of the British Open this morning, during which Greg Norman was interviewed. Norman said of the millennium tournament at St. Andrews in 2000, that Tiger Woods' performance that week was the best he has ever seen anyone swing a golf club. In four rounds Woods did not hit his ball in a bunker once, and went on to win by eight shots. It made me think of how much I miss that Tiger Woods.

We all have different opinions about what we should expect from our role models and sporting heroes. In their eyes maybe they feel unfairly dealt with by the media, and an adoring but equally scorning public. It comes with the territory though I guess. If a player is brilliant enough to win the support of fans throughout the sport, the fans will inevitably turn one them when they betray their faith.

It is not the first time this has happened in sport. But you would be hard pressed to find someone who has let down more people in such a short period of time than Woods, and with each week of his 'comeback' it is increasingly difficult to imagine him at the top of the sport again.

It is almost ten years since Woods took apart the Old Course at St. Andrews as a 24 year old, and five years since he repeated the feat at 29 years. Imagining him doing the same this year is not impossible, but it is by no means the near certainty it looked merely six months ago.

I sincerely hope we see those heights again from the Woods this time, as unlikely as it seems now that he is battling injury weeks out from the U.S. Open. With that, the British Open is increasingly looking as though it will be Woods' next realistic opportunity to win a major. It would be the first really positive step on a long road back to winning the support of fans he has lost the world round.

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