Opinion
Tiger thrills golf fans again at Bay Hill
April 2, 2009
Many people find watching a golf tournament on a Sunday afternoon rather boring. I won’t lie, as a kid I would rather watch paint dry than watch a final round of the Masters. Not until the eighth grade did I enjoy the game of golf, and since then have only wanted to watch one player on the PGA tour: Tiger Woods.
At the age of 33, Tiger has almost accomplished what it took Jack Nicklaus nearly 30 years to do. Currently, Tiger has won almost 30 percent of all of the PGA tour events he has entered. He has won a combined total of over 90 tournaments both on the PGA tour and other individual tournaments in his professional career, including 14 Major victories.
Tiger is sometimes called the greatest closer of all time. He has never lost a tournament when leading after 72 holes, and has the lowest career scoring average in the history of the PGA. He has only the missed the cut in two major tournaments in the past 14 years, and has won the U.S. Open by 10 shots.
It is difficult to say that Tiger is the greatest athlete of all time in all sports, because of the sport he plays, but it is possible to say that he is the most dominant athlete in his sport. Tiger takes over tournaments. Just this past Sunday, he was five shots back starting his round, and managed to charge a comeback making a 15 foot putt on the 72nd hole to beat Sean O’Hair by one stroke.
Tiger had done this before.
Last year at the U.S. Open, he came back and tied Rocco Mediate with his final putt on the 72nd hole with a torn ACL, and won the tournament the following day in a playoff, grimacing through pain.
Not only does Tiger’s golf game make him the greatest of all time, but also what he does off the course makes a difference for the game. He has started a foundation called The Tiger Woods Foundation, which was started by Tiger and his father Earl in 1996. Its purpose was originally to hold golf clinics for younger children, but since then has provided scholarships and partnerships with other organizations.
He also opened the Tiger Woods Learning Center, which is a large building that houses seven classrooms, along with multimedia equipment and golf trainers.
Finally, Tiger’s greatest attribute is the ability he has to relate to other people. Not only is Tiger black, but also is also Asian. He is able to reach out and teach and train so many different people that this fact could possibly be his greatest asset, not only to golf, but also to the world as a whole.
Tiger Woods may have bad rounds, bad tournaments or even bad years, but any other contender cannot match his presence on the golf course, which makes him the greatest golfer of all time.
Adam Vircks is a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.