OPINION: If Tiger’s Run Has Ended, His Last Event Couldn’t Have Been Better

Being a Dad changes you. 

Well, it changes most Dads at some point. For Tiger Woods, the biggest changes happened after almost a decade of personal life decline, severe health and body performance issues, and possibly even getting right with some other demons.

The past few seasons have often shown a different Tiger. And sadly, because of this perceived reputation, my son and I left Aronimink after his final round at the 2018 BMW Championship because we never thought he’d come out to sign autographs in wet, gray 50-degree evening conditions after a five-hour delay to start the day.

I was wrong. He signed a good bit of them for kids. Dammit. Maybe someday my kid will get the chance again. I hope so as that was 100% on me.

But Tiger seemed to really change his on and off course mannerisms, and while still keeping his kids out of the eye of the camera and the media glare, we still caught many glimpses of the Dad he seemed to have become.

Tiger’s son Charlie has shown a real talent for the game and a desire to play in junior events. Instead of playing on TOUR, we’ve seen Tiger taking the role of caddie and great stories of both his interactions with Charlie at these tournaments and with those his son competed against and walked with.

And if you’ve become of mushy hearted Dad like me who is getting a few tears welling up in his eyes while reading this (much like I am thinking before typing it), we all tuned in to watch Tiger and Charlie pair up to take on other family duos at the 2020 PNC Championship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We saw the love. We saw the pride. We saw the future talent. We even saw Charlie’s trash talk game. We saw a Dad and his son having one hell of a weekend together.

Soon after, we saw another surgical back procedure, more time off the Tour, and a glassy eyed Tiger hosting the Genesis Invitational that led to heavy speculation about his pain, medication, and other things.

Then it happened: early Tuesday morning, February 23, 2021 in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, the legend who came back from five back surgeries, personal problems that would break most mere mortals, and a great who really seemed to be traveling deeper into the back 9 of his career crashed and rolled his sponsor vehicle in speedy horrific fashion.

His right ankle and leg were damaged so badly that it required an extensive reset and structural integrity surgical event, and his mind had no recall of the incident due to shock or unknown reasons.

The sports world finally came to a potential harsh reality: we may have actually seen the last of Tiger Woods in competitive golf.

Now I don’t imagine for one second that Tiger is ready to throw in the towel. His accident left him on the doorstep of changing the record books once again in career wins. Tiger wants that record, and he can taste it.

Unfortunately, he’s going to need an amazing amount of recovery time, physical therapy, and possibly teaching his body and brain the new way to do the old trick. It can’t be rushed and he probably knows this.

I also don’t expect to ever see Tiger play another round on the TOUR, and if so, I’m happy and OK with that.

Why?

Because the last round I watched Tiger play in person was with my son, and his last round he played in a competitive event was with his son, Charlie.

To me, there’s nothing more poetic.

And right now I want to play 18 with my son.

Cover Image via Instagram