Tiger’s back. My apologies to the field.
Tiger wins the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill...and there was much rejoicing.
Tiger’s back, baby. And I’m darn happy about it.
I imagine there are still those out there who still despise Tiger for the womanizing bastard that he is/was. There will always be people who will forever fart in his general direction and will never ever cheer for Tiger Woods to succeed at anything ever again. There will be those people.
But I think there is an immense number of fans, dare I say a majority of us, that want the old Tiger back. Golf fans want to see Tiger being Tiger, winning tournaments with ease, making miraculous shots and continuing to add green to his wardrobe. We want the victory red to spell out victory.
We have, unfortunately, lost that for the past few years. And to be honest, golf has stunk. I like watching Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson as much as the next guy, but the golf community wants Tiger.
In his prime, Tiger was always a threat no matter where he was on the leaderboard. Sundays were never a breeze for the front of the pack. There was always the here-comes-Tiger moment viewers had waiting for him to ascend to the top once again.
Even if he didn’t win, having Woods in the pack was better than not. Golf without Tiger Woods is like Tennis without Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. There are fun players to watch (Novak Djokovic sure is something), but none of them will ever equal the best.
I think the golf community wants Tiger back. I do. I don’t care about the endorsements, the home life, whatever. I want Tiger in the pack every Sunday. “He should go back to the pills and the broads,” said my father on the issue.
It seems that after his win at Bay Hill this weekend we may be a bit closer to the good ol’ days.
It may be time to say: Tiger’s back. (Our apologies to the field.)
This post was inspired by a piece about Tiger on Grantland by Rembert Browne.
In anticipation of the Master’s, bring on Tiger.
Peace be with you,
–BP
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