Sunday, August 23, 2009

Tiger's Disappointment to the Golf World

By Ryan Bruce

In a very interesting and atypical twist today, Tiger Woods blew a lead entering the final round of the PGA Championships, losing to Y.E. Yang, a relatively unknown golfer. Woods had simply never lost a major after leading or being tied for the lead, and the world was shocked after witnessing today's events.

Yay? I don't think the PGA, it's sponsors, or the casual golf fan are very happy. Tiger Woods in the starter, middle reliever, and closer for the PGA. Without Tiger, as we saw last year, no one cares. Now, people are getting the feeling that Tiger has lost it. He didn't win a major this year and pretty much choked away the PGA Championship after missing the cut at the British Open.

Woods is by no means past his prime. After returning from an injury that ended his 2008 campaign, Woods has bounced back with wins at five tournaments. Some of these involved some vintage Woods Sunday comebacks. Unfortunately, the majors are far more watched than the other tournaments, so the typical sports fan doesn't realize that all's not lost in Tiger's corner.

For the short-term, Yang's victory makes for an interesting story and may feed the media with some fuel for now. But the 2009 PGA season is devoid of stories. A lack of a Tiger win, and Tom Watson's falling short at the British Open both make for some major disappointments compared to what could have been.

Yet, this pushes it to another level. You're talking about the greatest golfer on Earth, losing to some no-name from South Korea who probably won't win another major. If Tiger had won, it would've given hope to next year, a hope maybe he finally does what he was destined to do, win all the major in the same year and pass Jack Nicklaus for the most Major wins ever.

And for the 2009 golf season, there's not exactly much that fans can look forward to at this point. Will a Fedex Cup tournament excite them? Not exactly. There's really not much to look for.

Tiger must bounce back in 2009. He is the face of the PGA, and any story lines lacking Tiger Woods will do anything but help the sport grow.

We need Tiger to be Tiger and everyone else to watch in amazement as he wins Majors, no offense to them, but fans don't want Y.E. Yang, Angel Cabrera, or Lucas Glover to win. They want Tiger, and Tiger needs to deliver.

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