Tiger . . . Again

I and a bunch of other avid golfers around the world tuned in this past weekend to see if Tiger could make good on his oft-repeated refrain of being close to where he wants to be. It’s amazing how many casual golfers and infrequent watchers of golf were also watching. And the crowds came out in droves in Greensboro to see him live. Everyone, even the Tiger haters, just have to see what he’s doing. A lot of them are watching to see him screw up, hoping that he’ll screw up. And so far in 2015 he’s been making their hopes come true. But most of his viewers are on his side, hoping that he’ll somehow turn it around and begin winning again. I’d like to see him surpass Jack’s eighteen majors, but that now seems most unlikely. I’d also like to see him surpass Snead’s 82 wins, which he probably will. And deservedly so. Snead played in a time when the purses were tiny compared to what’s available today, and the field wasn’t nearly as loaded with potential winners. So Snead’s 82 wins aren’t nearly as impressive as Tiger’s 79. For 71 holes in Greensboro, Tiger played like the old Tiger. But then the new Pussycat Tiger had to appear on that ugly 11th hole: pulled iron way left of the green for his second, shank-blade pitch across the green, chunk chip short of the green, putt from the fringe long, 2-putt for that awful triple bogey. All the golf gurus are saying the same thing—it’s gotta be in his head. And none of them can, nor can I, understand how a player with maybe the best hand/eye coordination of anyone who ever played the game hit these atrocious chips and pitches from tight lies. I remember that old Adidas commercial where he bounces the ball off a wedge behind his back, between his legs, then spins around and in mid-air knocks it outta sight. That’s hand/eye coordination par excellence. I was happy to see Davis Love come through for the win, but I and a lot of others would have been ecstatic if Tiger had won. We’ll have to wait another year to see if he can truly come back from this disastrous slump.