Heeeeeee's Baaaaaack

Issue: Who?

Short Answer: Tiger.

Reasoning: I know I write about golf a lot.  That's because golf is awesome.  Pick up some clubs and find out.  I dare ya.  And, well, most of those posts are about the one and only, Tiger Woods.  Would you rather me write about Briny Baird?  Most of you probably think I just made that name up.  I didn't.  That is the biggest problem with golf right now - there aren't many recognizable faces or names.  The players are possibly better now than they have ever been, but, it is really hard to root for anyone not named Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Steve Stricker, Bubba Watson, or, well, that's about it (seriously, I can't stand Nick Watney, Ricky Barnes, and some of the other toolbags out there).  So what happens when there is a tournament when none of those fellas are in contention?  Let me welcome you to last weekends Greenbriar, Classic.  First, the tournament took place in West Virginia which makes it automatically no fun.  However, the Greenbriar resort and golf course are absolutely gorgeous (p.s. the absolute only thing in the entire state of West Virginia that can be classified as "gorgeous") which is enough to draw avid golf fans, e.g., me, but it is not enough to get the casual fan to watch.  Tiger does.

As I sat and watched the entire round on Sunday (one too many on Saturday night for me), I often wondered why, or possibly who, the heck I was watching.  Funny thing is, the tournament was unbelievably compelling.  (Keep in mind, you may not recognize any of these names) Bob Estes, a 45-year old former winner on the PGA Tour, fired a 64 on Sunday to take the lead (-10) in the clubhouse.  Bill Haas birdied the 17th hole to move to -10 and tie for the lead.  Scott Stallings was tied for the lead going into Sunday, but he shot 4-over on the front 9 to end his chances, or so I thought.  Stallings birdied 5 of the first 7 holes on the back nine to move to -10, and he still had the reachable par-5 17th ahead.  It was his tournament to win or lose.  When he drove his ball into the hazard on the 17th, it looked like he would choke.  He saved bogey, then birdied 18 to join Haas and Estes in a playoff.  The 18th at the Greenbriar is a par-3, which makes for an exciting, if not quick, playoff.  Haas hit it to 20 feet and missed the putt.  Estes hit his to 12 feet and missed the putt.  Stallings hit it to 6 feet and made the putt for his first (for some reason I am thinking his last - seriously, the most impressive thing about him were his man boobs) PGA Tour victory.  It was fantastic to watch.  Unless you aren't as serious about golf as I am.  There was nothing to draw the casual fan, especially after Phil missed the cut.  So, what does golf need?  You guessed it.

When Tiger is in the field, everyone watches.  No matter what he does from now until the end of his career, he is one of the best golfers of all time, and even casual fans enjoy watching the best, no matter what the sport.  Even when Tiger is 8 shots back going into Sunday, don't you (and by "you" I mean those that do the things I am about to write...) watch just for the chance that he makes a patented Tiger comeback?  Don't you watch when Tiger is blowing away the field by 9 shots, just to watch the amazing things he can do with a golf ball?  I know I do.  This is how good Tiger Woods is at golf: He has played in only 7 (he withdrew from The Players after one round, so, 6 1/4) full events this year (out of 34) and he is still 135th on the FedEx Cup points list (the top 125 head to the playoffs) and ranked 28th in the world rankings (his lowest ranking since his first full year on tour).  I mean, seriously, all he has to do is play decent golf over the next few weeks and he will make the playoffs easy, which means he could still win the FedEx Cup, and he hasn't played competitive golf since May 12th.  Even crazier is the fact that he is still ranked in the top-30 in the world.  That is how much ahead of the competition he was when his career crashed like his Mercedes that fateful night over a year-and-a-half ago.

By the way, I love the fact that he got rid of Steve Williams (his caddy), because it shows he is trying to clean the slate and start anew.  That's what he needs to do.  I don't think it was anything personal, he just needed to move in a new direction.  And I, for one (just in case you haven't figured it out yet), cannot wait until he gets there.