Can Tiger Recover?
TheOcho.ca Editor-In-Chief Riley Evans asks if this is the end of a career for golf’s greatest legend.
Today is a sad day.
It’s so sad that I thought twice about putting the SeakGeek banner in this column because capitalizing financially on this story just feels wrong. I did it anyways because I’m a sellout, but I did think twice.
Really.
I said on the first episode of The Ocho Podcast that Tiger Woods is my favourite athlete of all time. He dominated the game of golf in a way that so few athletes, if any, have ever dominated their field of play.
Since the day that we recorded that episode on Aaron crappy iPhone mic, Tiger has had two comeback attempts halted by back surgeries. He’s been battling injuries and scandal for the better part of a decade, and today’s arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence doesn’t bode well for the future.
Many people erroneously believe that Tiger has been in a downward spiral since his 2009 sex scandal and subsequent divorce from Elin Nordegren. Those people are overlooking his three wins in 2012, as well as his bounce back 2013 season, where Tiger won five tournaments, regained World Number One status, and was the runaway PGA Tour Player of the Year. He remained at the top of the World Golf Rankings for over a year.
I think it is very clear that the ’09 scandal and his current situation are not a continuous decline, but rather two isolated periods separated by a return to dominance. With that understanding, we need to look at what has led to his current regression. While Tiger is certainly to blame for today’s DUI arrest, until now his troubles have been physical, rather than mental or legal. This being the case, a large portion of the blame for where Tiger has fallen must rest at feet other than his own. Namely, it rests at the feet of his former swing coach Sean Foley.
Austin Evans, our tremendous golf writer here at TheOcho.ca, has previously reported that all of Foley’s most prominent students have had histories of back injuries, followed by falling off the face of the golf planet. This trend shows truest in his greatest pupil. Foley constructed a swing with the intention of protecting Tiger’s historically fragile left knee. He succeeded in that regard, but his trademark pursuit of biomechanical perfection forced Tiger (and pretty much everyone else) to swing the golf club in a way that his back could not support.
Tiger has had four back surgeries since March 2014. He’s barely played since.
When we have seen him, he’s been mostly a shell of himself outside of occasional flashes of the man who petrified Sunday leaders. It’s been depressing for me as a fan, so one can only imagine what it must be doing to Tiger. He went from pulverizing some of the deepest fields in golf history to pulverizing a vertebrae every time he tries to swing a club. You’d have to be a machine for that to not mess you up a bit, and judging by what the Foley school of golf swing did to him, mechanical he is not.
That begs the ultimate question: can Tiger recover?
Well, it turns out that Tiger’s condition while driving was a result of his prescription pain medications, not alcohol. That’s a well needed PR break, but it doesn’t change the circumstances that lead to him needing the pain meds.
Every new surgery or setback makes it increasingly less likely. Tiger had been unequivocal in his desire to play professional golf again, but at this point, we need to wait for him to get his life back together before we can even talk about his game. He’s not going to break Jack’s record, and his body might not let him be the dominating force he was in his prime.
The odds are against him, yes, but there is one fact that cannot be overstated; he is Tiger Freaking Woods. The epitome of a living legend. Golf magic has followed him around since the first day he ever stepped on his local muni track. He’s the best to ever do it, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the magic hasn’t dried up quite yet. Don’t be surprised if The Big Cat ends his career off on a note more befitting of a golfing god.
Riley Evans is the Editor-in-Chief of TheOcho.ca, as well as a long-form contributor to many of our sections. You can catch him co-hosting The Ocho podcast every Monday evening alongside Aaron Lieberman. Follow Riley on Twitter at @rnevans93.
