Endangered Species

Imagine the jungle without it's king. Imagine the sea without the killer whale. Imagine Braveheart without Mel Gibson. What would the elimination of all these things result in? One word, boring! No one wants to watch a Gazelle prance around with no threat of danger, other than running into quick sand. No one wants to watch Seal's act like they own the water and the beach with no consequences. And does anyone want to see anyone else rally the Scottish troops other than Mel Gibson? (not including King Leonitus) Just the same, most people don't want to watch golf without the man who rejuvenated to a popularity it's never seen and became the most polarizing athlete in the world. If you haven't caught onto my heavy hinting, I'm talking of course of Tiger Woods. This is unfortunately, what the PGA tour is having to deal with over the last two years, the absence of Tiger Woods on and off the course.

This all started of course, when the tabloid media blew up the stories of multiple affairs that Tiger was involved in. That on top of a bum knee and achilles, which he originally described as "minor", have kept him out of the winner's circle for the last two years. His head isn't right, his swing isn't close, and his body is beat up. No one knows when he'll be back, he doesn't even know. All he has repeatedly told the public is that he will not return until his body is completely healed. The problem is that he also said he's been playing in pain for many years. So how long will it take for him to completely heal? Or will he ever completely heal? Can the man whose life has been all about golf for the last decade or so keep himself off the course long enough to get his body back to normal? How long will he watch these young pups come up and break Major records (Rory), while at the same time the media dubs them the next Jack Nicklaus, before he let's his competitiveness overcome him and he tells his doctor to shut it.

The questions could go on and on. No one knows the answer: not me, not Andy North, not Hank Haney, and not even Tiger himself. No one knows what is going on inside of Tiger's head because he has not let anyone in. This is why I think the scandal sent him off the deep end, he is a very personal person and when the whole world knows your marital problems, it can get to you.

Even in the last two years, when Tiger has been on the course, he hasn't been feared like the Tiger who made golfers' necks sore from checking the scoreboard every five minutes and like the Tiger who made golfers' wear ear plugs so they couldn't hear the roar of the massive crowd after Tiger sank a 25 ft. putt. Now the golfer's aren't afraid, the gazelle don't fear the king of the jungle. He's lost his intimidation factor along with his private life, swing, mental and physical health.

What's next for Tiger? That question is unanswerable. In my opinion, he'll sit out this year and attempt to come back next year with a rejuvenated swing, healthy knee and achilles, and hopefully a Major championship. Hell, Tiger might be happy with just a tournament win, seeing how he hasn't won in 2+ years. Will we hear later this year that he'll need surgery, again? Will everyone eventually believe that Tiger is done and that his chase at Jack his turned into a good story gone terribly wrong, until Tiger believes it himself. We won't know without time. Tiger could come out next year and win a couple majors or he could go through the same thing he's been through the last couple of years. Either is just as likely as the next.

One thing is for certain, Tiger will have to make adjustments in his swing and his mind set. He will have to realize that players are not going to drop dead at the sight of him on the leader board (Y.E Yang). Tiger is going have to actually hunt golfers down, be the Tiger and go and get the Gazelle. He is going to have to stop thinking and let his natural instincts take over, before he goes from the Endangered Species list to Extinct.

Stay tuned