That odd sound you just heard was the collective sigh followed by a scream.
It was the extraordinary collision of relief and anxiety, of anticipation both feared and embraced.
Tiger Woods announced the inevitable, that he is returning to competitive golf and he’s doing it at the Masters.
No one can accuse Woods of taking the path less traveled.
Just look at his choice of extracurricular activities.
But Woods needs golf, and the sport undeniably needs him, and soon the two parties will meet in a clear demarcation of the 2010 season when the year’s first major begins April 8.
To this point, the shadow cast over the sport following Woods’ car crash, the downloading of his private life, and subsequent sabbatical has been profound, but it has lightened of late.
In further proof that a game is bigger than one individual, new characters have surfaced.
Mike Scarr
Had Woods been a regular fixture, golf may not have fully enjoyed the arrival of new star Rickie Fowler to the state side of the pond or Charl Schwartzel’s emergence on the international side.
With Woods on tour, golf may not have completely seen the understated talent of Steve Stricker, the personality of Ian Poulter or the renewal of Ernie Els.
But sports has a uniquely impersonal way of resetting the pieces, of taking from one to hand to give to another.
Such is the case with Woods returning to a game he dominated like no other player before him.
It wasn’t the set of physical tools that left him, but his own set of personal circumstance and consequence that created this particular detour and his challenge now is to prove to himself that he can handle the pressure of his most public profession.
He must also prove he’s still the man to beat in any given tournament with the majors amplifying that equation in geometric terms.
The expectations are that Woods will return to form as a competitor on the golf course, but the field has risen back to meet him.
Talent was less a question than resolve among the pros who teed it up with Tiger before Nov. 27, but the collective pressure has equalized.
Intimidation has been given a timeout and yardage books have been updated.
Y.E. Yang proved it last August in the PGA Championship at Hazeltine, where he went club-to-club with Woods and the previously unthinkable happened.
Tiger blinked.
Further evidence was on display at the Tour Championship in October, when Phil Mickelson posted 65 to Woods’ 70 in the final round for a three-stroke victory.
Woods walked home with the FedEx Cup, but the axis had shifted.
He now returns with a season in full swing unlike last year when the tour was still finding its legs and Woods renewed his schedule following knee surgery.
Woods last took a meaningful swing in Melbourne on Nov. 15, when he took home the Australian Masters trophy.
Augusta National is certainly a course that Woods knows well with four green jackets in his wardrobe, but it’s also the championship most distant on his resume.
Woods won his last Masters title in 2005 and since has picked up a British Open crown (2006) a PGA (‘07) and the U.S. Open in 2008 when he most thrillingly won on one leg in a 91-hole marathon that featured a 19-hole duel with Rocco Mediate.
He will be able to draw upon personal experience, though. Woods returned from a two-month layoff between the Masters and the U.S. Open in 2006 following the death of his father, Earl.
Woods emerged three weeks later for a second-place finish at the Western and then produced three straight victories — at the British Open, the Buick Open and PGA.
Clearly, he’s capable.
But the Woods then was a sympathetic character and some in the gallery and in the field will not view Woods with similar charity this time around.
There has already been criticism leveled at Woods for using the Masters to embark on his personal revival tour.
But while the Tavistock Cup and Arnold Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill may have been simpler entry points, there was going to be no particularly good time.
Security at the Masters is tighter than most and the gallery presents little danger of morphing into beer-bong alley, aka the 16th at TPC Scottsdale. The media was credentialed for this year’s tournament long ago.
Ultimately, the fate of Woods rests in his own hands.
If his preternatural game returns as expected, the roar won’t follow long thereafter as rededicates his march to eclipse Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major victories.
Fans are remarkably forgiving.
He can make the tabloid headlines a mere chapter in his story and not the main plot line.
Woods’ return is what he needs, it’s what the sport needs, but that anxious flutter won’t ease until he’s once again a fixture inside the ropes.
Mike Scarr is the editor of Golflink.com. He can be reached at golflinkeditor@demandmedia.com.
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Golf is bigger than any one person. It has its pride and a rich history of honor. Woods only tarnishs that image. I for one will not be watching the Masters. Woods might win but he is a loser and so is the game of golf by allowing him to play.
I respect your attitude sir, and there is certainly no question that Tiger Woods tarnished his reputation for years to come; however, it seems obvious that you are not a devoted, avid golfer. You will not find 1 out of ten businessmen that will agree with you. If you know how many jobs are lost due to terminated endorsements, by the way, which are all waiting on Tiger’s return, you would probably feel the same way, but you would not openly voice it. Political correctness is an absolute.
Big John
Woods is flawed like the rest of us.. growing up to be a golf champion, he was denied a normal social development ( and expressed his desire for this ) .. who can judge how this effects a person socially? Not I, and his flaw is social, his golf has is great and he has paid a price for that greatness I think.. I look forward to his return ..