Tiger Woods announced Tuesday that he has undergone a successful microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve that has been hurting him for several months…
The procedure was successful, but Woods will be unable to play in the Masters Tournament, instead requiring rest and rehabilitation for the next several weeks…
The goal is for Tiger to resume playing sometime this summer.
(tigerwoods.com, April 1, 2014)
No doubt die-hard Golf fans enjoyed watching Bubba Watson win his second green jacket yesterday at The Masters, Golf’s first Major of the year. But, with all due respect to Bubba, 20-year-old Jordan Spieth (who almost bested Tiger by becoming the youngest player to win this tournament), and all other noteworthy contenders, millions didn’t bother watching because Tiger did not play.
There was a feeling around The Masters that the absence of Tiger Woods might not hurt as much as expected… Television viewers apparently had a different opinion.
ESPN’s first-round telecast was down 800,000 viewers to a record low of 2 million. That’s the lowest … in the seven years the network has been broadcasting the Masters.
(ESPN, April 11, 2014)
I expected it would be thus.
Here:
It’s an indication of how much Tiger Woods dominates professional Golf that, even when he’s not playing well, he’s still the only golfer anybody is interested in watching or talking about.
This manifested in Technicolor last weekend – when the highlight of The Masters was not the play of those atop the Leaderboard, but the controversy that erupted over Tiger’s violation of an arcane rule.
(“The Masters: All about Tiger Even When He Was Losing, “ The iPINIONS Journal, April 15, 2013)
And here:
I understand why professional golfers are chagrined to hear that the popularity of their sport is due as much to shrewd marketing (to yuppies as the course to take for corporate success) as to their skillful and entertaining play.
There can be no denying, however, that Tiger Woods transcends the corporate image of this sport. After all, his athletic bearing alone makes him something of a phenomenon amongst professional golfers and country-club shakers alike; his Horatio-Alger personal story makes him as American as apple pie; and his charismatic play makes him as irresistible to watch as Michael Jordan was when he played Basketball.
Indeed, I don’t mind admitting that, despite its career-boosting hype, I have never swung a golf club, let alone played a round of golf…. Yet I’m as big a fan of the game as anyone else – whenever Tiger hits the links.
(“Tiger Wins British Open … Again,” July 24, 2006)
It’s really that simple folks: Tiger makes even what for millions of us is the boring game of Golf exciting. So here’s to a speedy and successful recovery, Tiger.
We miss you. Golf misses … needs you.
I should have added that no group will be happier to see him back on the links than his fellow players. Because, even though he routinely kicks their butts, they all have Tiger to thank for the millions in their bank accounts.
(“Tiger’s Back on the Prowl, um, er, for Golf Titles that Is,” The iPINIONS Journal, March 12, 2010)
Related commentaries:
The Masters…
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Tiger’s back…