 "Tiger Woods")
This will be the second time in 20 years where Tiger Woods will not be competing in the Masters. His back and knee problems have aggravated to a degree where continuing surgery and therapy leaves his re-entry to the top levels of golf somewhat suspect.
Everyone, including fellow competitors, want him back as there is no doubt that when he is in the fray, in any tournament, the interest amongst spectators, TV viewership even among the non golfing public, and interest all over the world increases multifold.
There is always an electric atmosphere around him for a whole variety of reasons, but chiefly because of his once vaunted prowess in the game. The public is yearning to see more of his sheer brilliance. Indeed, in the considered opinion of some, the Tiger phenomenon that has massively increased worldwide interest in golf and golf course development, increased prize monies to unprecedented levels, caused sponsorship monies to the top players to bring them Croesus like riches, made many billions in earnings for golf equipment suppliers, should result in his evolution and elevation to the status of a 'God' (or at least a saint) of golf. After all, it is only God that showers blessings on all. In the Indic tradition, Gods also have some human failings, and new Gods are created depending on the societal need.
It was at the 1997 Masters that the Tiger legend took birth and everything changed in golf. Reflecting the times, Clifford Roberts, the founder of the Masters, had once said, "As long as I'am alive, golfers will be white and caddies will be black." Then along comes this mixed race, twenty one year old kid (half Thai, half black, part red Indian and part throwback to ancient warriors of yore) and smashes all records to take the Masters Championship by a staggering 12 strokes. Roberts would have enjoyed it. When the fabled Green Jacket was placed on his shoulders, his father is reported to have said "Green and black go well together, don't they?"
In that tournament, he never used anything longer than a seven iron to go for the par 4s, while the other competitors, whose average age was 38 years, were using 4 or 5 irons or even three wood.. and praying! With his ginormous length off the tee box, he reduced all the traditional championship courses to nothing much. Tiger often used short irons even for second shots to the green on Par 5s. All courses had to be Tiger proofed and lengthened. Traditional and new designers of golf courses had to go back to school for reassessment of design needs.
Tiger exults after winning the 1997 Masters
Seeing Tiger winning almost every time he teed up the ball, Jack Nicklaus said: "Tiger was more dominant over the players he is playing against than he himself was against other players in his time." The degree of his past dominance of the game is best told through his lead in world rankings being so enormous that, even though he was clearly no longer anywhere near being the best player in the world, the rankings (a flawed system indeed, but is there a better one?) continued to show him as the number one player in the world for years. This has to be compared with the present musical chairs being played over who is number one in the rankings because no one player has a substantial lead over the others. Truth be told, while the quality of golf and skill at the top level is excellent, there is no longer anyone who is going to dominate as Tiger once did. They won't even come close because the top five in the world, plus minus, are really as good as each other.
No wonder then that virtually all the present day top golfers had posters of Tiger in their dens or bed rooms as they were growing up. The next generation of youngsters (Spieth, Day, Mcilroy etal) grew up hero worshipping Tiger and took to building their strength and fitness, aping the regime Tiger followed. They are playing the most spectacular golf one can imagine, in the image of Tiger Woods.
Tiger remains engaged with them through helpful and friendly tweets, giving freely of his vast experience in leading and winning. He is warming to his role as one of the Vice Presidents for the US Ryder Cup team, dearly wishing to be a playing member but that will be dependent on his physical condition and proving his playing capability once again in competition. There is speculation about whether he will ever play competitively again at this level, fuelled partly by 'slow news' coming out from his camp. The latest news is that there is no fixed calendar for his return; he cannot afford another setback as that will be his last.
The media is desperately trying to get some kind of a one-on-one rivalry (such as between Palmer "Nicklaus/Tiger" Phil etc.) going among the leaders, but the top players in the world have yet to play a couple of more years, sharing the principal honours among themselves, to create that kind of hype. At least two players have to clearly break out of the bunch, going head to head against each other often. The media will do the rest.
So Tiger, even though he is not competing in the 2016 Masters, will be at the Champions dinner, supporting and cheering Jordan Spieth on his 2015 record equaling achievement and generally be around at least for the US players to fulfill his responsibilities as a Vice president of the US Ryder Cup team. You can bet that his name will be mentioned more often even than that of the eventual champion. It will be good to see him prowling around his old haunts, possibly reminiscing on magical shots that denied other contenders the Green Jacket and, of course, on his course record shattering win at the 1997 Masters.
