Sunday, August 23, 2009

Why Tiger's Loss is More Than Just a Loss

By Ryan Bruce

Golf fans were all stunned today when Tiger Woods was defeated by an unknown Y.E. Yang at the PGA championship. The lead was all Tiger's, and to have seen him blow it, well, many weren't expecting it to put it lightly. Yang is the first ever Asian golfer to ever win a major event, and this is the first time Tiger Woods ever lost a major on the last day after having held the lead.

Yay? I don't think the PGA, it's sponsors, or the casual golf fan are very happy. Tiger Woods in the starter, middle reliever, and closer for the PGA. Without Tiger, as we saw last year, no one cares. Now, people are getting the feeling that Tiger has lost it. He didn't win a major this year and pretty much choked away the PGA Championship after missing the cut at the British Open.

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.

Yet, this pushes it to another level. You're talking about the greatest golfer on Earth, losing to some no-name from South Korea who probably won't win another major. If Tiger had won, it would've given hope to next year, a hope maybe he finally does what he was destined to do, win all the major in the same year and pass Jack Nicklaus for the most Major wins ever.

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.

We need the Tiger, the best golfer, to be well, the best golfer. He needs to hold leads on Sunday. He needs people to be scared on the last few holes with Tiger on the prowl. We need Tiger Woods to dominate everybody and ask questions later. If he's labeled the best, he needs to start performing in the biggest and best events.

Here's to hoping that 2010 brings us a Tiger resurgence, and most notably, a major or two. The sport really needs it.

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