Has Tiger Roared His Last Time?

06/12/2022 Has Tiger Roared His Last Time?

By: Marissa Kasch

Woods Pulls Out of the 2022 U.S. Open. Have We Seen the Last of Vintage Tiger? 

In a world where golf has been dominated by Tiger Woods for at least 20 years, we are left to wonder whether he will roar louder than ever, or if he has fallen to the bottom of the food chain.

 

Tiger’s career is nothing short of spectacular. Over the years, he has managed to captivate the majority of golf fans around the world. Despite his apparent injuries and less than stellar performance at The Master’s this year, his following remained large as ever. It seemed that many patrons could care less about who put on the Green Jacket that weekend, as long as they got to watch Tiger play. His consistent following speaks for itself and for the impact of his career on the game of golf. This being said, his career has certainly not been one without injuries.

 

Early in Tiger’s career, he had surgery to remove cysts from his knee and to drain fluid surrounding his ACL. This surgery caused him to miss the first few events of 2003, but in typical Tiger fashion, he went on to win three of the first four tournaments he played in after recovery. A few years later, in 2007, he ruptured his ACL on the course. As we all know, that wasn’t going to stop Tiger from competing. And it didn’t. He was swinging the club just a week later and won 5 of 6 of the next events he played, including a Wanamaker Trophy at the PGA Championship.

 

In 2008, Tiger experienced several complications regarding his injuries, but they didn’t inhibit his victories. In April, he underwent knee surgery to repair cartilage in the area surrounding his ACL rupture. By May, doctors discovered two stress fractures in his tibia. With a bleak outlook on the state of his body, Tiger entered the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in June. As he prepared for the event, he attempted to maneuver around a cumbersome knee brace. Tiger was not Tiger with the knee brace. In fact, he wasn’t even close. In a practice round in Newport Beach, he failed to break 50 through nine holes while wearing the brace. Obviously, this wouldn’t work for the fast-approaching U.S. Open. So, he did what made perfect sense at the time. On the drive down to Torrey Pines, Tiger Woods threw his knee brace out the window. When it comes to golf, I’m seriously convinced this man has no fear. All he knows is how to compete and how to win. He had no clue how he would play without the brace, but by some miracle, he figured it out pretty darn fast.

 

In the 2008 U.S. Open, Tiger’s resilience was both indisputable and surreal. After his double-bogey on the first hole, Tiger managed to finish even par and only 4 off the lead. The next day, he showed the crowd what grit was all about, carding an impressive 68 and tying for second. His 4 under par round was special within itself, but this was magnified when you consider the pain he endured with each stroke. To say that day three was magical would be an understatement. It was like a fairy tale. A real fairy tale. Not one with rainbows and butterflies, but the old fairy tales that didn’t spare any gruesome details, like the broken leg he was playing on. Come day three, the question was not “Where is Tiger hitting the ball?”, it was “Where isn’t Tiger hitting the ball?”. Magically, his scorecard did not tell the same tale, as he finished 2 under par. However, this was the same day in which the world saw how badly he was hurting. Day four culminated with a tie, sending him to a playoff with Rocco Mediate. And as we all know, the 18-hole playoff on day five concluded the U.S. Open as Tiger emerged victorious, but in immense pain. Now, we all remember this as “the time Tiger won the U.S. Open on a broken leg”. For anyone else, this sounds virtually impossible. For Tiger, it’s more like the status quo.

 

In 2010 and 2011, Tiger withdrew from the Player’s Championship for two consecutive years due to injuries. During 2013, he endured more injuries to his back and his elbow which kept him out of multiple events. At the 2015 Master’s, he hit a tree root, causing obvious pain. When asked by a reporter what happened, Tiger responded nonchalantly, “A bone kind of popped out and the joint kind of went out of place, but I put it back in.” Come October, Tiger realized that his body needed real medical attention and not his signature “put the bone back” move, which led to a long series of back surgeries and spinal fusions.

 

Though they kept Tiger from competition, these surgeries helped him to restore his home atop the leaderboard quickly. On April 15, 2019, headlines read, “He’s Back!” following Tiger’s Master’s victory, his first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open. Fans across the country were elated to hear the unmistakable clarity of Tiger’s roar. However, in 2021, things took a heartbreaking turn.

 

In February, Tiger was involved in a tragic car accident that changed the course of his life and his career. His car rolled and he was trapped inside, waiting to be freed by first responders. Once he was out of the vehicle, he needed surgery immediately for his broken right leg and ankle. At the time, nobody knew what this meant for his career. I wish I could say we have more clarity now, but it’s still a topic of heavy debate. After watching the 2022 Master’s, several questions regarding Tiger’s career remain. Is it all over? Is there still hope, or has Tiger roared his last time?

 

Here’s what we do know. Tiger Woods is many things. He has a controversial personal life and he has spent his fair share of time in the press. But one thing Tiger Woods is not and will never be, is a quitter. Over the years, he’s dealt with countless injuries, ranging from minor to severe. Do injuries ever stop Tiger though? Absolutely not. They slow him down, sure. They most definitely hurt. But there is no stopping Tiger Woods. Watching him play in the Master’s this year was difficult. We watched him limp and we watched him cringe with pain as he swung. None of us saw him give up though, and I doubt we ever will. So make your own opinions about him. Tell everyone that he’s a “has been”. Tell everyone he has his legacy, but his career is over. Tell everyone he’ll never win another major. Go ahead. But as for me, I will never count Tiger Woods out.

 

Additional Storylines

Golf Digest: Here’s Every Course You Can Play Where Tiger Woods Has Won

CBS Sports: Tiger Woods to Skip U.S. Open, Still Plans to Play British Open

ESPN: Tiger Woods Officially Joins Michael Jordan & LeBron James as Next Billionaire Athlete

 

Photo: Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images