Is The Master Of Golf Back? If So It’s Bad News For All The Other Golfers
Seeing Tiger Woods on the weekend leaderboard is sending shivers through the spines of every other golfer on the PGA Tour because what they have long dreaded is creeping into their minds: “Tiger’s back.”
Back, as in back in contention. And all the golfers know that when Tiger is in contention there’s no competition. After years of suffering from a combination of injuries and self-inflicted relationship stupidity, Woods popped up on the leaderboard of the Valspar Championship, one of the many pre-Masters tournaments on the Florida swing.
The last time Woods was even in the final group of a tournament was in 2013. Which he won, of course.
And oh yes, The Masters. If the Valspar proves to be a Tiger trend rather than a one-tournament aberration, the other players will doing praying like they are camped at Amen Corner. They will fear their shot at winning just took a plunge like a tee shot into Rae’s Creek.
Woods has that psychological effect when he’s a factor because the other players have a fear that if Tiger ever gets on track again, they will all be playing for second place. His mystique hangs over the Tour like a giant rain cloud.
Part of this stems from the fact that of all the years Woods has been sidelined or simply nowhere near the player he was in his prime, no other player has been able to maintain any kind of consistent success. Certainly nobody has been dominant.
Jordan Spieth is the latest such example of this: after bursting onto the scene in 2014-15 with six wins and 16 Top 10 finishes, he’s won just five times since and has twice missed the cut already in 2018.
Of course, all this is great for golf, the PGA Tour, TV ratings and the fans. That is because no other player generates the viewership, excitement and interest as Woods. And that, too, means the other players will be putting even more pressure on themselves at Augusta.
If the master is indeed back, then that’s a big swing of momentum at The Masters.
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