So after writing a post about just how amazing Tiger Woods is and how he is the best golfer ever (or at least will be), he comes out and announces that he’s going to be going under the knife and have surgery to repair his knee… again. Sure, it was obvious from his limps and grimaces after swings during his memorable U.S. Open playoff win, but now it’s on a whole other level. It might be the greatest performance in golf history.
While he may have been jeered by some critics (like the NHL) for taking so long to come back from arthroscopic surgery on his knee, now we know why. With two stress fractures and a ruptured ACL, I’m surprised he could walk, let alone play as much as he did. This was just recent either; Woods says he ruptured his ACL while training after the British Open. How well did he perform afterwards? Well if you could golf this good without a torn ACL, why are you sitting in front of a computer? Go out there and win some tournaments and money! His numbers since that British Open are astounding; 13 tournaments entered, 10 won, two second places and a fifth place finish for over a total of $20 million.
Now the real question isn’t whether Tiger will be able to come back or not – he will, it’ll just take until probably the first major of next year – it is how is golf as a sport going to do? Nobody is hurt more from this injury, including Tiger, than the entire sport of golf. When you pull out the cornerstone, the entire building will fall. Fans are already demanding their money back in St. Louis after learning that Tiger won’t be playing. How many more times do you think we’ll read that story for the next year? My guess is a lot. Tiger is the headliner and you don’t pay money to just see opening acts. The PGA should be scrambling to come up with some sort of solution to this but I’ve got news for them: there isn’t one. They’ll have to grin and take it where the sun don’t shine until Tiger’s back on his wonky knee.
Oh, and that pile of mail in front of Tiger’s place? It isn’t get-well cards from his throngs of fans, it’s thank you notes from the rest of the players on the tour. Now they actually have a chance to win.
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