Friday, May 10, 2019
Tiger's Back!
Tiger Woods, at practice
If
you are a golf fan, such as I, then you are likely following the
remarkable comeback of Tiger Woods. After four back surgeries, and
other countless setbacks, he has come to play. Round after round,
recently, he has shown that he will be in the thick of things, likely
for years to come. He pounds his drives off the tee, not always
exactly where he would like the ball to go. But his drives are
almost as long as anyone else on the tour, and his ball lands in a
spot where he can finish each hole at par, or close to it.
One
cannot argue with the fact that he has re-invigorated his game, and
the fans' interest in the game. Truly remarkable fans now gather at
each hole to watch him play. No doubt that television ratings have
increased substantially since he began to play well. In a nutshell,
those things pay the bills. No one ever suggested that Woods was on
hard times when his game and his health left him. He still had his
followers, and he likely had to put seven digits on his income tax
form at the end of the year. Following this year's tournaments, thus
far, his stock has increased substantially. His efforts are truly
commendable.
He
knows what he is up against on the PGA Tour. There is the usual pack
of great golfers looking to lead the pack late Sunday afternoon. But
there are also the upstarts, those young golfers who believe they
belong, trying to put their names on silver goblets. Phil Mickelson
recently won in Mexico. “Lefty” had left a message that he just
isn't ready to join the Seniors Tour. I am sure that there are
several players on that tour who are grateful for that. The Seniors
Tour becomes more competitive each year, as the younger members of
the PGA turn 50.
Along
with Mickleson, there are other great players chomping at the bit to
win: Bubba Watson, Ernie Ells, Stuart Cink, Charles Howell III,
Sergio Garcia, Matt Kuchar, Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Rory, (you
know his last name,) Justin
Rose, Rickie, (same thing!), Jason
Day, Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth....It is a long and hungry list.
And you can include a few Canadians in that pack: Mackenzie Hughes,
Adam Hadwin, Nick Taylor, Graham DeLaet, Ben Silverman and Corey
Conners.
And
then there is that list of fine pros who are not exactly household
words, just yet. Bryson DeChambeau, Sam Burns, John Huh, Grayson
Murray, Ryan Moore, Sam Horsfield, Tommy Fleetwood, to name just a
few. That is also a very long list.
But
any week, when all of the stars are perfectly aligned, when one's
biorhythms are ready, any one of these guys can step up to the little
white ball and reach the podium. Most golf fans are looking forward
to the first major tournament, The Masters, in early April. As I
write, they are rolling the greens and clipping the fairways on that
pasture in Georgia. It was not too long ago that a young Canadian who
also hits from the south side, came to the fore and won the Green
Jacket. His name is Mike Weir, and he is easily Canada's best
recognized golfer at this time.
Last
Sunday, Rory won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in style.
He had five birdies on the last six holes to win by three strokes.
Tiger got within one stroke of the lead on the back nine, but
faltered down the stretch. He did crank up one drive, measured at 375
yards, on one of those holes. That would send a message to the rest
of the players.
It
won't be long before some of you will be enjoying the great game of
golf, all over the world!
James
Hurst
March
19, 2019
# posted by James Hurst @ 9:04 AM 
