[W]inning tournaments in his inimitable fashion is the only way to eradicate bacchanalian images of his private life from public consciousness – even if not from the tabloids. And only this will give his understandably spooked corporate sponsors the cover they need to feature him as their spokesman once again.
When I wrote the above in a December 9, 2009 commentary entitled Tiger escapes to a ‘safe haven’, I could not have fathomed that it would take Tiger over two years to return to his winning ways. Yet here is how the Associated Press remarked on his unfathomable drought yesterday:
Two years after his life and career came crashing down, Tiger Woods is a winner again.
One shot behind with two holes to play, Woods finally looked like the player who dominated golf for so much of his career. He birdied his last two holes Sunday, making a 6-foot putt on the 18th, to win the Chevron World Challenge by one shot over former Masters champion Zach Johnson…
It had been 749 days and 26 official tournaments since he last won on Nov. 15, 2009 at the Australian Masters, back when he looked as though he would rule golf as long as he played.
Of course it is tempting now to assume that yesterday’s triumph marks the restoration of Tiger as the king of golf. But, like I cautioned my old college roommate, a die-hard Tiger fan, one tournament win does not a dominant player make. And this is especially so if that tournament happens to be one that is also known as the Tiger Woods Invitational….
That said, I am as happy as any fair-weather golf fan can be that Tiger won … finally. I just hope it helps him regain his trademark confidence, which does for his game what Samson’s hair did for his strength.
His next tournament is another non-major event scheduled for late January. But Tiger knows better than anyone that he will not be able to fully redeem his professional reputation until he wins another five Majors (i.e., from among the Masters in April, U.S. Open in June, British Open in July, and PGA Championship in August).
In the meantime though I suspect this win will guarantee him a very Merry Christmas. And I wish him a triumphant New Year.
Related commentaries:
Tiger escapes…
Tiger, Tiger … losing fight
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