TIGER DOESN’T SCARE US!
EUROPE’s Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn says there is no fear about facing a resurgent Tiger Woods this weekend after his epic Tour Championship win. He conceded that Woods’ first tournament triumph in five years has added spice to the clash but insisted: ‘We don’t fear anyone because we’ve played against them so many times before. But we respect our opponents and know what we are up against. ‘Any time Tiger does anything great, that’s a story and that’s where we want to see him. He does so much for the game. For everyone in golf, it’s brilliant.’ US captain Jim Furyk called Woods’ victory a ‘nice buzz for our team’, adding: ‘It brings that much more excitement. ‘He won yesterday as an individual but he’s flipped that page pretty quickly and is really excited to join his team-mates.’
JACK NICKLAUS always said that the day he became purely a ceremonial golfer, he would retire.
Tiger Woods’ fear was rooted more in modern technology. YouTube was what disturbed him. The thought that his children would only know his talent from clips on a screen, a distant, intangible thing; that it could be placed on pause and forgotten, much like his career.
‘A lot of times they equated golf to pain,’ Woods said of his children, Sam, 10, and Charlie, nine. ‘Every time I did it, I would hurt. I hadn’t won any tournaments they could remember.’
Most children want to make their parents proud. After the very public collapse of his marriage, for Woods it was the other way around. For obvious reasons, he wants them to see their father at his best. Not just as daddy, but as a man the world admires; who is good at his job.
It is impossible to separate the personal from the professional in his story because his struggle to play again cuts to the core of Woods’ existence, to more than what remained of his career. This was not a question of whether he could win a major, or even a tournament, but of whether he could strike a golf ball again. Just for fun, not financial reward or glory.
Injury stole from Woods, left him bereft. ‘The low point was not knowing if I’d ever be able to live pain-free again,’ he admitted. ‘Am I going to be able to sit, stand, walk, lay down, without feeling the pain? I didn’t want to live that way. This is how the rest of my life is going to be? It’s going to be a tough rest of my life. I was beyond playing. That was a pretty low point, and for a very long time.’
Woods’ comeback is remarkable. His condition was not temporary, and was not considered curable. Many times he had tried and failed to recover and by the time he made this final attempt, his time was believed done. Golf was post-Tiger. ‘Do you think Tiger Woods’ competitive career is effectively over now?’ ESPN asked on February 15, 2017: 84 per cent said yes.
Dustin Johnson was asked when he knew he could become the world’s No 1 golfer. ‘When Tiger stopped playing,’ he said, an answer that did not suggest this status was fluid.
What we are seeing is not just any old sporting glory story, either. We are seeing something we thought could never happen. His comeback was dismissed as impossible — no player with Woods’ back condition could overcome so much adversity, and a field of younger, fitter men.
And then, it happened. Woods arrived at East Lake GC in Atlanta on Sunday, in the garb of the best and baddest golfer on the planet once more. His black cap-sleeved vest showed off his bulging biceps and in his right hand, that famous red shirt. Red for action; red for danger; red for back.
It was 2008 when Woods suffered a double stress fracture of his left tibia two weeks before the US Open. He was prescribed three weeks on crutches, followed by three weeks rest. ‘I’m playing the US Open, and I’m going to win,’ he told Hank Haney, his swing coach. Haney recalls thinking there was no chance. ‘He couldn’t walk from the dining room table to the refrigerator without stopping in his tracks for 30 seconds,’ he said. Woods got there.
After four days and 72 holes at Torrey Pines, he was tied with Rocco Mediate in first place. US Open playoffs lasted 18 holes back then, and the pair went 19 the following day before Woods triumphed on a torn anterior cruciate ligament and double stress fracture.
It remains one of the most astonishing triumphs in modern sport, yet still dwindles compared to this. Sam and Charlie now know what their daddy does. He does the impossible.