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.
While fans were excited by the turn of events today, this really can’t be good for golf. The PGA can’t be happy about this, nor could any of Tiger’s major endorsers. Without a major in 2009, people are beginning to write off Tiger Woods, thinking that he may very well be past his prime.
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.
While everyone loves to talk about Yang and what he did today, this was a crippling blow to the PGA in 2009. There were simply no exciting stories that capped off the year of majors. Tom Watson nearly became the oldest golfer (by far) to ever win a major, before losing it on the final day. Woods went the entire year without a major, virtually unheard of during his career.
Yang will probably make few headlines anytime soon, and the once “sure prospect” of Woods beating Jack Nicklaus’ record for majors one is suddenly not such a sure thing anymore.
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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Hi, my name is Jake Stafford. I lost my job as an accountant in November 2008... Right before the holidays! Thing seemed really bad, but I was able to keep paying my mortgage by starting my own business selling stuff online. The key thing is to keep yourself in the loop on what works and what doesn't... I've decided to start a blog with articles that I find interesting for my business and others who are trying to do the same thing.
