It is nearly two decades now, since we all first heard of a certain Tiger Woods. And the name has remained synonymous with golf ever since he was named the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 1996, months after turning professional. The biggest names in golf debate Tiger’s chances at the onset of a major, with an unfailing regularity. And for the past six years, we also experience the same community wondering if he has reached the end of his shining tether. At 38, it is unlikely Woods will ever dominate the game as he did in his heyday, but neither is he finished. A man of such talent and skill will be in the reckoning for years to come.
Those who write the great golfer’s valedictory notes will suffer prolonged editing, but golf needs to move on from its fixation with the superstar. So too the fans of this great game that offers innumerable thrills and spills week after week.
The pursuit of Tiger is depriving both the game and its fans an opportunity of relishing the present. Besides, it is an ailment that is unnecessarily fading a few important pages in its history when the focus ought to be on some brilliant stimulating performances from other talented young men.
Be that as it may, the conversation around Woods seems to veer from depraved enthusiasm to utter despair in the matter of a few rounds of good old golf. The perverse desire to create a hype about Woods in the lead up to major tournaments – ESPN apparently dedicated an entire channel to his rounds – is an effort that skews the conversation in the wrong direction.
But it is a strategy that is fraught with the risk of turning off fans that tune in to golf hoping to read and watch about some fine performances on the most challenging courses that the game offers. The role of the writing and broadcast community is to offer the fans an objective and meaningful narrative about the action on the course.
At the Open last week, Woods was off the course having completed a disappointing 6 over 294. And as he walked past Rory McIlroy, the 25 year old was working his putter on the practice greens with more than an hour left for him to reach the first tee. It was a grim reminder of how we were all contributing to a skewed narrative, through our blinkered TRP driven vision of golf.
Woods may yet go on to win some more major titles, perhaps even keep chasing Jack Nicklaus’s holy grail of 18. Till we chance upon another such Sunday, let us regale in the stories of the many other professionals that entertain us with their golf and guts.
