“Time is a thief, but he’s not subtle. He’s a thug.” A line penned by J.R. Moehringer for the novel, “Sutton”. This statement is applicable to all of us, but it is amplified as we watch our stars grow older before us. Compromised by new limitations and exacerbated by the next generation of those wanting to take what used to be ours. Its why athletic mortality is a fascinating study because it can come so swiftly, and it usually occurs well before the adoring public has even reached midlife in our own chosen fields. So, what do we do now in our assessment and forecast for Tiger Woods after the disclosure of his latest medical procedure to alleviate pain in his foot and ankle and hopefully provide a greater quality of life. It leads us once again to ponder what has been a practical consideration since his car careened off the road in Southern California a little over two years ago, what if this is the end?
Genius is not supposed to be pretty, clean, or obedient. Genius is just genius. We marvel at the accomplishment of the true geniuses and the skill and the inspiration but the exercise of determining why it wasn’t tidier is time wasted. The “what ifs” are plentiful when you examine the great performers in art, music, theater, and sport. They are tormented and that torment leads to manic, reckless, and extreme behavior. They redline to satisfy their own skill, likely finding only temporary satisfaction. The persistent refrain that Tiger should have never changed from the “Butch Harmon” swing dismisses the rub in the conversation. Tiger himself. He was pursuing something only he could see or possibly attain so the pivots during the process were inevitable. Most engineers want to be artists, few artists want to be engineers. Tiger is an artist.
So, now in his advancing age and diminished physical state why is he doing this and even trying to do this again? Because it’s who he is. No, making cuts in a major is not his benchmark but it’s a mile marker. It’s a referendum and he’s never succumbed to what was always accomplished before as being enough. Every round, every event, every shot updated the grandest scoreboard of them all, who are you right now. Few athletes in our lifetimes have combined the greatest gifts, which produced the most refined skill coupled with the predatorial approach of extermination. Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods represent the most lethal make-up of the modern athlete. They played broke every day because it was the only way they knew how.
Since Tiger’s car accident it has been my position that winning was simply not achievable any longer. The harsh circumstances of the severity of the injury and the subsequent impact on how little competitive golf he would be able to play put me in a place I haven’t been since he introduced himself professionally 27 years ago. That winning was no longer. It’s not that he can’t still produce golf shots few others can, it’s that the rudimentary elements associated with elite championship golf would be too arduous and that the walking and 72 holes would choke out the odds of crossing the line one more time. His major championship season of 2023 is most certainly over and as he and we go into the winter of this year, he will enter his 48th year. He has possessed the ability to suspend the likely or the plausible result and what if that is not an achievable power anymore? That’s for him to determine and he can take all the days and years he wants to draw that conclusion. In order for him to chase greatness again it may only produce the ordinary by his standards but that’s for his determination, not me or you. The epidemic of all of us knowing what’s best for others is ironic since half the time we don’t even know what’s best for ourselves. It’s also silly that we apply the notion that past accomplishments and moments may be compromised or extinguished if iconic athletes stay around too long. I’ve never suffered selective amnesia when I reflect on the surgical precision of Jerry Rice running routes as a San Francisco 49er while also acknowledging that he wore a Seattle Seahawks jersey. He’s still the greatest wide receiver of all time. Legacy is a misunderstood word but any athlete performing at some point as less than what they were formerly changes nothing about what once was.
Golf can resuscitate our greats, Jack in ‘98 at the Masters, Watson in ‘09 at the Open Championship, Snead in ‘74 at the PGA. Icons can wake up the echoes because they just can. I want to believe that Tiger will have more moments because we want him to have more than at any point in his career. He was never lacking for the public’s adulation, but he now receives a level of affection that even he never saw coming or how it would penetrate him. Fans are greedy and golfers are the greediest. Talk to anyone about their career round and it could have always been two better. Lamenting the makeable putts while overlooking the three chip ins and the ricochet off the cart barn from OB to fairway hit. Teams, players and fans want one more before the window closes regardless of how many are already in the trophy case. Tiger Woods was the hundred-year flood and if he’s finally been dammed, then DAMN!