More to come
Woods’ injuries severe, but don’t count him out yet
We have become so enamored by comeback stories that we’ve simultaneously mastered the sports obituary.
Naturally, there has been an overcorrection, thanks to a boost from this age of information when opinions are disseminated worldwide in milliseconds and one can tell his own story.
Amateur coroners abound, boldly declaring the “last,” “final,” or “absolute end of ” everything from Super Bowl victories to high school state championships.
We rush to declare a team’s season is over, can’t wait to tweet that a particular game is done or a player is finished.
Thus: Tiger Woods … the end.
The horrifying footage of Woods’ SUV, reduced to crumbled and crunched metal in a Southern California gully, could very well be among the final images we take from his marvelous career.
But thanks to a combination of technology that kept the car from disintegrating, his wearing a seat belt — which probably kept him from flying to his death — and divine intention, this isn’t an obituary. Woods’ life isn’t over.
“I think everyone should just be grateful that he’s here, that he’s alive, that his kids haven’t lost their dad,” Rory McIlroy said. “That’s the most important thing. Golf is so far from the equation right now. It’s not even on the map at this point.”
That Charlie and Sam, Woods’ 12-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, aren’t saddled with the immeasurable grief of a deceased parent is indeed a blessing.
But sorry, Rory. Since Woods
is the greatest golfer of all time, golf is in the equation.
If the next stage of his life is the comeback from a tragic, potentially fatal accident, it would be among the great sports stories ever.
Woods, who has undergone multiple knee surgeries and another on a torn Achilles tendon, already was facing a trying comeback from the fifth operation on his back in December.
His body has been breaking down on its own, basically, for years. The physical trauma from Tuesday’s accident, requiring rods, screws and pins in his lower right leg and ankle, is worse than any he has experienced.
Quite often, Woods spoke of his returns from the back issues and other injuries in terms of his interaction with his kids as much as his getting back to top-level golf, but he always included the game.
A comparison to Kobe Bryant, who died tragically in a helicopter accident a year ago, is logical.
Driven to succeed in sport with a singular, unsurpassed focus, Bryant became a different person as his basketball skills declined and fatherhood took over. Such growth has been obvious with Woods, too.
Family might now be ahead of the game for a man whose game was ahead of everything for most of his life. But until he is told he can’t play, he will want to play. And the man who is tied with Sam Snead for the most wins in a career (82) will play to win.
More than a decade ago, self-anointed prognosticators started declaring Tom Brady’s career was over.
In 2013, somebody at Business Insider wrote that Brady “isn’t nearly as great as everyone thinks” and that the New England Patriots would “not win another Super Bowl with Brady at the helm.”
Incredibly, this guy went so far as to proclaim that Brady had “the physical attributes to win. It’s the mental part that’s holding him back and will continue to hold him back.”
You know the rest of the story. The Patriots won the Super Bowl the following season and three of the next five, and despite “the mental part that’s holding him back,” Brady has been the winning quarterback in four of the seven Super Bowls played since that nonsense was written.
Aside from a major knee injury in 2008, Brady hasn’t had to come back. Through all the doubts, he has just maintained.
Similarly, as the injuries mounted, keeping him away from competition, and just as importantly practice, there was a premature burial of Woods’ career.
A decade ago, writers from a multitude of publications worldwide — from the Comstock Chronicle (Virginia City, Nev.) to the Irish Examiner to the Birmingham (Ala.) News to the Sun Herald in Sydney, Australia — predicted Woods’ tournament-winning days, especially in majors, was over.
Golf greats Greg Norman and Nick Faldo said the same.
“I’ve heard that before,” Woods said. “I’ve kept on winning them, too.”
According to a 2015 ESPN survey, 64 of 102 PGA golfers, a fifth of them major champions themselves, said Woods would never win another major.
Tiger won the Masters in 2019 to give him a total of 15.
The man who ignited unprecedented growth in the sport via millions of amateurs and virtually carried professional golf for the better part of two decades wasn’t sure he would be able to play Augusta National this year.
Now, if he ever makes it back to a tournament, it will be a triumph. And a near-miracle if he were to win again.
He is 45 years old. The great Jack Nicklaus shocked the world by winning the Masters at 46 but without having to overcome devastating injuries.
Tuesday’s crash could end Woods’ career. Undoubtedly, he will have to sit out the 2021 golf season. But is he done?
Let’s wait and see. Comebacks make for far better sports stories than obits.