Tiger’s Greatest Loss His Greatest Relief
You could see the look on his face as he put the Green Jacket on rival Phil Mickelson’s shoulders. Sure, he was disappointed he didn’t play better, that he didn’t win a 5th Masters, but there was something else. The look of a son who feels he has let a father down. The look of a son who knew he let an opportunity slip away that he may never have again, to celebrate a Major Championship with the man that taight him so much about the game of golf and the game of life.
A year prior it was Woods who had won his 4th Green Jacket, and mentioned publically for the first time that his dad was sick, too sick to come to the course and celebrate with him, to give him the big bear hug that had become a constant betwen father and son after a Major win. Woods went on to win his 2nd British Open at St. Andrews later that summer, ironically in the event that included the last competitive round for than man he is chasing in the record books, Jack Nicklaus.
The strain on Woods was apparent, however, as his father became more and more ill. He was still winning, but he was faltering at times as well. Mistakes on the couorse were getting to him and lingering. The focus that had become he trademark was being shaken, as his mind was 1000’s of miles away with his dad.
The culmination was the 2006 Masters, where Woods knew it would probably be the last time he played a Major with his father alive. He played well, but not well enough, missing makable putts on the back-9 to fall to Mickelson. Just a couple weeks later, on May 3, Earl Woods passed away. Tiger had lost his best friend and secluded himself, awy from the public, away from the media, away from the game he loved. He didn’t pick up a club or 8 weeks.
It was probably 1 week too long, when Woods returned for the U.S. Open. He didn’t make the cut. Questions began to rain down. Was he in a slump? Could he re-focus and get his game back? Could he ever be as dominate without his father there to support and mentor him? It didn’t take him long to answer those questions.
I had a theory after the U.S. Open. The emotional toll that having a sick father took on Tiger was finally lifted, and after grieving, Tiger would come back, better than ever, Better than in 1999-2001 when he won 6 out of 8 Majors at one point and even winning the “Tiger Slam”. Some thought I was crazy, that the ‘field’ had caught up to Woods and it was ‘Hefty Lefty’ Mickelson primed to make a big run. Some even thought he was the best golfer in the world…
Tsk tsk…After the failure at Winged Foot Tiger has done nothing but win 3 out of the last 4 tournaments he has entered, finishing 2nd in the other. Two of those were Majors, and all three were going away. He has that look in his eye again. He can focus on golf again, not wondering if he is going to get ‘the call’. Sure, he wants his father back, and woould give up golf for it, but he can’t. The best way for him to pay tribute to his father is to win, and win big. His focus is renewed, his mind clear. The rest of the golf world had better watch out.
Woods now has 12 Majors, and he is 12-0 when he is leading or has a share of the lead after 54 holes. The countdown to 18 and beyond now begins. Using his ratio of winning 12 of his first 40 Majors(3/10), Woods would tie the record in 5 years, presumably at the Masters, the sight of his first Major Victory, and his first bear hug. Odds are, that would all but make up for the disappointment felt at Augusta in April.
