Within the realm of pop culture, when you hear the word “golf” one name comes to mind more than any other. Tiger Woods. However, these days it seems more like “Cub” than “Tiger.”
I mean, wasn’t it just yesterday that Woods was atop the world of sports? Smashing tee shots down treacherous fairways, chipping in at the 15th at Augusta and winning the U.S. Open with knees like my grandfather.
But what has come of the Tiger of old? Where exactly has the greatest golfer the sport has ever witnessed gone? Well, your guess is as good as mine. And Tiger’s. I’m sure he’s just dying to know.
Tiger Woods once held the No. 1 position in golf for the most consecutive number of weeks any one golfer ever has. He has been awarded the PGA player of the year a record of 10 times. Woods managed to win 16 World Golf Championships in just 11 years.
His career skyrocketed in the beginning, but now it has plummeted faster than Tiger can run his car into another tree. In just two short years he has gone from No. 1 golfer to No. 51.
That’s right. Tiger Woods is not even in the 50 best golfers.
It is no coincidence that his poor play started after his “indefinite” leave to fix his marriage. Which apparently did not do much good since they got divorced in 2010 (big surprise there).
It seems just as Tiger was losing respect and love from fans and sponsors, he was losing his “golfing skills” at the same time. This just seems to show how big of an affect the public’s view of Tiger as a person had on his golfing. When he was showered with love from sponsors and fans (and apparently women on the side), he performed much better than when he knew he had become one of the least-respected athletes in years. Tiger has not even had any serious injuries in the last two years. I’d say the thing that has hurt him the most is his pride, even more so than his knees.
Tiger was once the “world’s most marketable athlete,” with endorsement deals from Nike, Gatorade, Gillette, you name it. He was even the winner multiple times of Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year”.
Now Tiger has lost just about all his endorsements, is a good punch line for womanizing jokes and makes for some hilarious SNL spoofs.
Will Tiger Woods ever make a return to the top? That’s one question everybody, including himself, is dying to know.
If so, it will undoubtedly be one of the biggest comebacks golf, maybe even sports as a whole, has ever seen.
