Tiger to Return to Competition
Tiger Woods, the best–and most followed–golfer in the world, is returning to competition after a more than eight month hiatus following arthroscopic knee surgery last summer. Woods will make his season debut at the Accenture Match Play competition in Marana, Arizona this week. He is the defending champion in the 64-player, single-elimination, match play event.
Will his game be up to his high standards? Says Woods, “It’s one thing to (play) in a practice environment against some buddies for a little bit of cash. It’s a different deal in a PGA Tour event against the best players in the world. I’m looking forward to the challenge and experiencing that excitement again.”
We’re looking forward to it too.
(© Newscom)
1 Comment
There is only so much that the other golfers can do; they might play the best golf of their life, put on an incredible show, display amazing ball-striking ability but it will still not come anywhere close to matching the X-factor that comes along with the package called Tiger Woods.
Just before his long layoff when he was embroiled with Rocco Mediate in that epic US Open playoff, he drew nearly 8.5 million viewers to the television sets. Only he is capable of keeping even the casual fan glued to the television set.
And there is further proof to substantiate the claim that he is so desperately needed by the game. The PGA Championship, the third major in the year, played without Tiger Woods in ’08 saw figures dip over 55 per cent compared to the year before when Tiger won. Surely, it isn’t just a coincidence!
I cannot think of any other sport where one athlete has such an unbelievable impact. It is akin to what Michael Jordan did for the Bulls and Magic Johnson before that.
As someone rightly pointed out- “Tiger is golf’s version of a stimulus plan! He affects everything that is capable of generating revenue” and I think he was spot on. Such a golfer comes once in a generation and everyone looks to milk as much mileage out of his presence as possible.
It is good to have you back Mr Woods!
Andy