Sunday, August 23, 2009

Tiger's Disappointment to the Golf World

By Tony Lamazza

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 hasn't regressed as much as people like to think. He's still won a very impressive five tourneys in 2009, and has staged some remarkable comebacks this year. Only the more serious fans realize this, but the media will be all about Tiger's lack of a major in 2009.

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.

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.

Let's hope that 2010 brings us the return of Tiger Woods, just as the 2009 tennis season has done for Roger Federer after a disappointing 2008. While fans may have cheered on Yang as he defeated Tiger today, you can be sure they're pulling for Tiger over the long run.

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