Unfortunately Phil has been on the wrong side of great entertaining Sundays. But it was still exciting. Payne Stewart winning in 99 with that putt was as good as it gets. Tiger beating Rocco was great theatre. That beats anyone winning by 5 or more, even Nicklaus doing it which was my favorite golfer
I agree 100% that its entertaining as hell. Me being a tiger fan, 2008 us open was unreal, I remember watching it with my dad on fathers day, I remember jumping up when he made the putt and my bro in law, who is a tiger basher like red eye, didn't say a word.
No doubt its entertaining, especially if your favorite golfer comes out on top. That said, I want to see the greatest athletes have the greatest performances as much as possible in my lifetime.
I would love to see Tiger get back to the way he used to be. But this is what I believe. When Tiger won all of those tournaments going away back in the late 90's early 2000's, the game of golf was much different back then. It was old school, along with the courses. Tiger was basically the golfer who started the conditioning and the non-golf related aspects (weights-cardio) of being an athlete. Nobody was doing it back then. But almost everybody is doing it now. And becoming better golfers because of it. The under 30 set like Dustin Johnson, Ricky Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Jonathan Vegas and Rory Mcilroy etc. are workout freaks who are already good and going to get better. While Tiger can still beat these players if he had his "A game" back, he is never going to beat these guys with his "B Game" like he used to do when he could sleepwalk through those minor tournaments. Those days are gone.
Something else he now has to deal with is the emergence of the European/Australian golfers. The outstanding play of the golfers around the world in the last few years is making it much harder to win on tour. Especially in major championships. Players like Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Jeff Ogilvy, Adam Scott, Paul Casey. Jonathan Vegas, Aaron Baddely, KJ Choi, Ryo Ishikawa and Charl Schwarzel (sp) just to name a few. Just look at what has already happened. Two of our biggest tournaments so far have been won by non-Americans. And Tiger isn't going to beat these guys unless he's at the very top of his game. Plus you can't discount the way they have Tiger-proofed many of the golf courses since his winning days. Augusta and Torrey Pines have made no bones about their changes. The courses and the rough have gotten longer. And the bunkers especially have been placed in the most strategic positions to punish the long hitters whose shots gets offline. And while I believe these courses have gotten longer too since Tiger came into the game, the big problem for Tiger now is he isn't driving the ball as long or straight as he used to. He was way under his driving average at Augusta earlier this year. And with his left knee injury, I don't see that distance improving when he gets back.
You also can't neglect the fact that other golfers aren't as intimidated by Tiger anymore. They know they can beat Tiger. And they haven't been shy about showing it. Like that asian golfer (can't remember his name) who went head to head with him without flinching, and winning the PGA a couple years ago. My take is if Tiger can get healthy and stay healthy, he can still win a lot of golf tournaments. But those days are gone where he can win on a bad week and come limping in with a 1 ir 2 stroke win on Sunday. If he can't put the injuries behind him and get his swing back on plane, he may never win another tournament. As much as I dislike him, I don't wish bad things on somebody who so loves the game and is so dedicated to it both on and off the course. Plus it would make for some great Sunday afternoons of watching golf if he comes back. Face it, 90% of those highlight reels commercials we see promoting the PGA involve the guy wearing red. He IS a human highlight reel that can pull miracle shots out of his ass whn he's on his game. I would like to see that again.
That was agreat golf moment, and even though I am a basher at times, I appreciated the moment on a bad leg as a golf fan. The chip he had at the Masters with the Nike Swoosh was awsome. Just like Phil's shot between the trees last year. Thats what I look for, not the runaway victories.
