Tiger’s Comeback Tougher Than Ali’s
Tiger Woods will have a difficult comeback.
Tiger hasn’t played golf competitively in four months. As far as we know, until this week he hasn’t played a single hole since mid-November.
Tiger has returned home and is “trying to get back into a routine that includes golf and fitness.” Trying to get back into a routine? That sounds ominous.
The man is coming off two significant derailments: Reconstructive knee surgery (summer 2008) and a self-imposed exile (winter of 2009-10).
In a 41-month stretch from 2005 through the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger reeled off 25 PGA Tour titles (six of them majors). Is that guy gone? How many times have we seen an imposing golfer lose his way and never regain his mojo? Remember when Tom Watson stopped making big putts? Remember when Greg Norman lost his confidence after too many collapses?
Golf is a mental sport.
You need a ton of self-confidence, you need an unwavering belief in your own talents and you need to be able to tune out any and all distractions. Hell, Tiger could barely handle someone’s camera clicking during his backswing. He’s going to be able to handle … this?
When Ali returned from his exile with rusty skills, he stopped dancing as much, absorbed more punishment and learned to pick his spots. As his skills slipped even further later in his career, he absorbed insane amounts of punishment and banked on his innate will to prevail in the end.
That’s the main reason he can barely say a sentence right now. If Tiger comes back with similar rust, I can’t imagine him being able to change his style on the fly as Ali did. Either it comes back or it doesn’t.
Don’t discount Tiger’s advancing age (34) at this point. Watson never won another major after he turned 34; neither did Arnold Palmer, Fred Couples, Seve Ballesteros or Curtis Strange. Nick Faldo won only one major after 34 — the 1996 Masters that Norman choked away.
Only Jack Nicklaus thrived from 34 to 40 (16 PGA Tour titles, three majors), although Norman (eight Tour titles, one major) and Lee Trevino (six titles, one major) also fared pretty well.
Tom Kite peaked after he turned 34. Nick Price won two majors at 37; Mark O’Meara won his only two at 41.
And sure, Tiger was better than all of those guys. But none of those guys had to keep winning while rebuilding his life after a DEFCON 1 public humiliation.
Ali had the buffer of a boxing ring and just a few fights per year.
Golf? Doesn’t work that way. You’re walking among fans for hole after hole. They’re right there. Always. Studying every move you make from as close as five feet away.
And you can’t come and go; you need to be out there swinging your sticks week after week after week in city after city after city. Which means this will be a traveling sideshow, at least for the first few months.
Back In The Spotlight
How will the fans react? Do we know? Do we have any inkling? I could see the turmoil eventually turning him into a sentimental underdog; selfishly, we’re ready to see him reclaim “best golfer ever” status.
That’s the most idealistic view of how it plays out. But we don’t know. And I guarantee you, neither does Tiger Woods.
Remember, everybody has been rooting for him since he was wowing Mike Douglas as a 2-year-old. Although we’ve seen tournaments when another golfer swayed the gallery from him, Tiger always knew where he stood with fans. But what about now?
Golf and tennis are the two worst possible sports for any elephant-in-the-room situation, thanks to dead silence nearly all the time. Every cheer for a competing golfer will feel even more biting than usual. Again, think of how he reacted on the golf course pre-Thanksgiving. How will he handle it?
The 2008 U.S. Open catapulted Tiger to a different level. Winning it on one leg did for him what the Foreman fight did for Ali and the 72-win season did for MJ: It made everyone say, “We’re now at the point that I’m going to be telling my great-grandkids that I watched this guy. So let the winning continue!
As long as we don’t have a hometown favorite involved, we’re always going to root for greatness over anything else. That’s the best place to be as an athlete — people pulling for you, always, week after week, with the athlete feeding off their strength. Can he win that back?
The biggest wrinkle nobody is mentioning: What if this starts out badly? What if Tiger plays a couple of tournaments and just stinks? What if he can’t get anything going?
What if the dominant story becomes, “Will Tiger Woods ever get it back?” What if he’s dealing with that question constantly, day after day, week after week, city after city, over and over and over again, and that doubt seeps into his head?
Ali fought only every few months and had the luxury of picking cream-puff opponents if need be. Tiger will be competing against himself week after week, not just his potential, but the ghost of what he could once do.
There’s no greater pressure in sports.
Forty years later, many people wonder whether Tiger Woods might fold under the pressure of his comeback. It’s a fair concern.
The pressures aren’t nearly as meaningful as the ones surrounding Ali, one of the most important, courageous and influential athletes ever, but they remain pressures nonetheless.
Add them together, and it’s no contest. When Ali actually returned in September 1970, it was a cakewalk compared with what Tiger will face this month or next month or whenever he actually returns.
Courtesy of ESPN
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