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You could ask, “Who was afraid of Tiger Woods at the 2011 PGA Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club?” The answer is only the fish in the ponds, as Woods was looking as lost as those balls he was driving into the drink.
Woods was seven-over par during the first round on Thursday, and he shot three-over-par on Friday; the once dominating Woods finished ten-over and missed the cut by six strokes. This is not what he must have expected as he came in to try to regain his standing in the golf world after a tough year of physical and emotional disappointments.
With Woods out at the PGA, it is a fair question to ask what is actually wrong with him? Is it that at thirty-five that his body is just not bouncing back from the injuries as he would have hoped? Or is it something more insidious, like something akin to writer’s block for a once prolific author?
Obviously, there are some people who may be enjoying this situation a little too much, but what can we expect after what has happened to Tiger Woods these last two years? With the scandal that cost him his marriage behind him now, and with long-time caddie Steve Williams out of the picture, Woods may have thought he was embarking on a fresh new voyage into success, but he is looking more like a lost kid in a department store out there now.
I am not sure if I feel sorry for Woods, or I just think that his fall from grace and poor performance are lamentable because of the greatness he once displayed. Most fans of any sport enjoy seeing a master at work, and an inevitable part of every game is that eventually even the best grow older and their powers fade.
There is no question that there is time for Tiger to get back on track, if not this year then maybe in 2012. Still, the PGA is less thrilling without him at the top of his game. It is sad to see Tiger gone so soon, but perhaps he can use this extra time he now has to get himself straightened out for his own sake and, more importantly, for golf’s sake. He owes it to the fans and most of all to the game that he loves.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
