“His performance made the golf summer suddenly look much more interesting.”
That line, taken from a column by Leigh Montville published on SportsonEarth.com on Tuesday, hinted at Tiger Woods’ resurgence at the Farmers Insurance Open. What a return it was. He played legendary Torrey Pines as well as anyone can play a single golf course.
Woods was four strokes ahead of the field heading into the third round. With five holes left in his victory lap, he had a commanding eight-stroke lead, which reminded me of his 1997 Masters performance in which he blasted the rest of the field by 12 strokes.
Yes, he gave four strokes back and it was on a course he has won at eight times previously. But the fact that can’t be discounted is that the golf world is back on notice.
The PGA has to be drooling at the possibility of watching golf’s former golden goose trade awe-inspiring shots with current golden boy Rory McIlroy.
Think about it: Would television networks rather air Sunday’s back nine of a major tournament with a golfer that just earned his PGA Tour card or would they rather air a classic final paring paced by McIlroy and Woods?
The answer is glaring and obvious.
This resurgence of sorts doesn’t excuse Woods’ checkered past. He will never fully make amends for the scandal he was entwined with like a stray tee shot in the heather. No amount of winning will ever make up for it.
He cheated on his wife, with whom he has two kids. He will always have to live with shame, a shame that he fully deserves.
But let’s face it, we would all rather see Woods doff his cap, walking up the fairway at 18 with the tournament in hand while the crowd roars in approval of what it had witnessed during the weekend.
Journalists would love to fill their pages with stories of how golf’s fallen angel rose from sordid incidents back to the apex of the golf world.
Who wouldn’t mind seeing Tiger bend a 3-iron shot past a dogleg right and put it four feet from the hole rather than watching him bend the rules of marriage?
I wouldn’t.
Nick Robbe is a senior studying journalism and sports editor of The Post. Do you think Tiger is back for good? Email him at nr225008@ohiou.edu.
