I remember sending a tweet over the summer that said "Will Tiger ever find his old self again.." I had several responses and a number of individuals who voiced their opinions about Tiger. A number of these people seemingly think Tiger has no chance to catch Jack. Saying he's "burnt out" or "washed up". I bit my tongue for the moment that finally came on the first Sunday in December 2011. I could not of been more moved by Tiger's victory today at the Chevron World Challenge.
You could tell that Tiger felt an amazing sea of emotions with his victory. Everyone was fist pumping in the gallery after his beautiful putt on the 17th green after lacing a beautiful iron up over the elevated green. It seems as though people are beginning to accept him again. You could see as he walked off the green the amount of fans trying to shake his hand and pat him on the back for his efforts this week. Tiger stood on the 18th tee knowing what Zach Johnson had done yesterday after holing out at the end of his round. He also knew, that holes 15-18 were very cruel to him this week. It did not matter, we saw the Tiger of old today and if people in the golf world are not exciting about what is going to come in 2012, get ready.
After 749 days, TW finally rises back to the top of the golfing world after his win. Jumping back to the 20th ranked player in the world after being outside the top 50 (52). Tiger has won 83 tournaments world wide and today came his first since 2007. For the week, he fired a -10 under 278 and beat out Zach Johnson by one stroke. After landing his putt on the 18th green you saw Woods burst into an elated state of mind like he was the only one in the world who just witnessed. Lets face it, the guy has been through hell and back ever since his scandal broke that November evening in 2009.
Losing his life long best friend on the bag Stevie Williams and his coach Hank Haney, Tiger had to do some soul searching as of late. With a bad knee, and issues with his foot, some say Tiger would never win again. False. Yes, some may argue with me and say "Tiger won in a field of 18 this week and some of the best young guns were not in the tournament". It does not matter, who ever you put in the field this week would not of lifted themselves above Tiger and won. This was his time, he was destined to win this week and if you are not a believer that Tiger's game is coming back to form, check out his last few tournaments. Outstanding performances outside of his lopsided loss to Adam Scott and KJ in the first pairing of the Presidents Cup, that was not an individual competition.
If you know anything about golf, and have been an avid watcher of Tiger's career, you can sense when he's going to wake up the world and make a statement. Also, you would know that TW has handled more pressure in the game of golf than anyone to ever pick up a club.
So tonight, I'm going on the record to everyone reading this saying the man is back. His swing looks phenomenal, he is hitting great iron shots again and has great control of the trajectory of his golf ball. He was able to cut, draw and line golf ball all over the course this week. You notice he has not been putting as much pressure on his knee and has worked drastically with his swing coach Sean Foley to improve his mechanics to best suit him in the long run.
Bottom line is, the man has 14 major victories and only needs a few more to break the record. The ten time PGA tour player of the year will be 36 at the end of December heading into next year. He was in contention at Augusta last year roaring back in the final two rounds only to come up a few shots short. He will win TWO majors next year, one being the Masters, were he has had great success. Let's face it, the world of golf needs Tiger and so does the rest of the sports world.
The 2012 Chinese zodiac says it will be the year of the dragon, wrong. It will be the Year of the Tiger.
I sent this write up to Tiger via Twitter, hopefully he catches this on his way back to Florida.
PJG
No comments:
Post a Comment