COLUMN: Why Tiger?

Like most of you, I spent a good portion of my Sunday intently watching Tiger Woods bring home his 5th Masters championship and his first major win in 11 years. Unlike most of you (or maybe not?) I had no idea they moved up everyone’s tee times to avoid the weather and found myself tuning in with Tiger already 9 holes in (subtle pun intended). The whole tournament was awesome. Almost all of the big names were in the hunt, but most importantly, Tiger was in the hunt. I, along with several millions, sat and watched each day hoping for Tiger to stay within striking distance so we could all have a Sunday full of excitement and drama that has been noticeably lacking from pro golf in recent years. Well, we got what we hoped for. It was a storybook comeback, and will most likely go down as one of the most epic moments in American sports history.  Once the dust settled, I started to think about what just happened and I kept circling around one question. Why? Why was his so awesome? What is it about Tiger Woods that is so encapsulating? He’s a great golfer no doubt, one of the best, if not the best of all time, but others have stepped up during his downswing and had dominant moments. Speith, DJ, Koepka, McIlroy, Bubba, Vijay, Phil, have all had opportunities to take the throne from Tiger. None of them did though, and honestly I think part of that is because golf fans, mainly the casual golf fan, wouldn’t have it. It was Tiger or bust, and pro golf’s popularity hung in the balance. None of those players commanded the same type of hysteria and fanatic following that Tiger did. And in my opinion no one in that sport has ever been this polarizing. Matter-of-factly though, Tiger isn’t on the same level as other top tier athletes when it comes to strictly athletic ability. Think back to the way Reggie Bush or Barry Sanders could ‘wow’ you at any given moment. Same goes for people name Gretzky, LeBron, Ovechkin, MJ, Steph, Verlander or Vick. All of those athletes and then some were considered must see TV at some point, and some still are.  None of them can create the same type of draw Tiger can though. I sit here and try to pinpoint what athletic feature of Tiger makes him so enthralling to watch and I struggle to do so, but you can bet your ass I stop what I’m doing and make sure I’m watching Tiger if he’s in the hunt on a championship Sunday. The best answer I have for you comes down to two things. 1) Tiger was the first golfer I can think of that showed big time emotion, the same kind of rush and demonstrative action you would see from a powerful dunk or demoralizing swat. It was awesome to see in sport as stoic as golf, and made it more relatable to the casual fan. 2) Golf is also a pretty relatable sport across almost all people. Almost everyone has tried it at some point and experienced the frustrating parts of it, as well as how quickly it can deteriorate any shred of mental toughness you had. Tiger can overcome those moments and sink a 4 foot put that 99% of us would send halfway across the green if we were in the same spot. Those two things, are what separates Tiger from the field. I’m in the camp that Tiger is and will be the greatest golfer we’ve ever seen. Admittedly, I don’t enjoy watching golf all that much unless Tiger is playing and I will probably stop watching as much once Tiger decides to hang ‘em up. I feel this could be the case for most people as well, until then, I’m all in on the Tiger bandwagon, deal with it.