The Hero World Challenge and Tiger’s Return

The Hero World Challenge is over, and all of the hype that came with it is dissipating. Tiger came through and actually finished out his tournament with a new swing, new equipment, and what looks to be much-improved wedge play.

In all honesty, I was hoping for a better finish for him, but that’s my naive optimism. I feel that Tiger performed rather well, given the circumstances of his return to the Tour. He played like a man who hasn’t really played professionally or competitively in over a year. There were some really nice shots and a few that fell short (literally). All-in-all, it was a realistic finish for him. I would expect any other golfer in the same situation to do worse.

It really wasn’t fair to place such high expectations on this outing. We all know that you only get better with practice, and there’s no practice that is really going to compare to actually playing competitively. In the case of competitive play, all of the muscle-memory drills and hours on the range or putting/chipping green can be negated with a bad case of the yips.

There were those on social media who were predicting a win and those who were critiquing and criticizing Tiger’s play throughout the tournament. The only one who I saw in my admittedly limited following was Tiger’s old coach, Hank Haney. His responses and tweets were measured and realistic. His analysis was neither cruel nor contrived. For those of you who don’t follow Hank, you’re missing out on some nice golf advice.

Given the Tiger Phenomenon and the fact that the general public has decided to separate his on-course ability from his off-course activities, I’ll be interested to see if there’s a spike in Bridgestone golf ball sales. Remember, Nike wasn’t even mentioned in the same sentence as golf until Tiger’s endorsement deal.

I recently listened to a podcast in which the commentators were harkening back to a speech made by Tiger’s father, Earl. Without picking apart the words and hyperbole, he had set his son up to be more than just a great golfer, but to be a barrier-breaker and standard-bearer. Tiger lived — and lives — with these expectations set forth by both his father and the golf community. He has become a sort of flawed legend. Those who are playing alongside him now, once looked up to him as a role model.

It’s curious how we, as Americans, idolize — really idolize — our celebrities. We hold them to standards to which we don’t hold ourselves, and when they fall, some of us are there to analyze the slip as if we have some personal insight that would’ve prevented it.

I’m not standing on a soapbox; I’ve been guilty of the same offenses. I could take the easy way out and say that I’m allowed this criticism due to my role as sportswriter, but it doesn’t stop there. I comment on the course and in general conversation.

I would’ve liked for Tiger to have won this past weekend — really, but I still had that one part of my mind in which I was expecting a complete meltdown. I was prepared for the worse, but was hoping for the best.

I’m pleased with the outcome of this past weekend, and I’m moving forward with a positive outlook.

Cover Photo via Flickr