(X-Post from r/ProGolf)

This guy is tied for 26th in this tournament, hasn't played competitive golf in years and hasn't won a tournament since 2019. And he's getting headlines for making the cut.

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Tell me golf hasn't missed him dearly.

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After all these years he’s still a blast to watch. The fact that he’s still competitive is incredibly impressive

Golf needs Tiger, it hasn’t been the same without him, and likely never will be.

It's Tiger. He is the story and they're all headlines.

It's no different to any sport where a legend has been out of action and returns. Obviously theres going to be a lot of press around him.

There haven’t really been any golf stars since that transcended golf in fame. He’s not a golf star, he’s a superstar.

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You are saying nobody is setting their alarm for when Jordan Spieth tees off?

Wait did I miss something? I saw the tampon drop on JT but he actually said that? The antic was childish but funny IMO.

Who?

Palmer was getting attention for showing up at the Masters when Tiger was getting started.

Not me, but I do remember when the gallery helped tiger move a rock.

Fuck that's awesome!

Speith didn't make the cut

ESPN and Tim Tebow but with golf

Without his injuries and personal struggles, I'd assume he'd still be one of golf's top players and winning tournaments, no? Someone said the death of his father played a roll in his competitive play?

He won his first major at 22 by 12 strokes. He won a US open by 15 stokes; nobody could break par and he was 12 under. You face 40-60 of the best golfers in the world and win by 15? That record still hasn't been broken. Tiger, MJ and Gretzky stand alone in terms of athletes in my lifetime.

Golf won’t be able to lean on Tiger forever. Gotta figure something else out

It’s a miracle he can even swing a club with the surgeries he’s had

If he’s 26th in this tournament, what makes him more fun to watch than 20-25? Genuinely asking.

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One can’t say that they’ve “stood alone” - but Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have displayed an almost unparalleled dominance over a sport for 20 years.

He’s the greatest of all time. No one has ever dominated golf like Tiger did in the 2000s. Despite all his issues, he’s shown he can come back and win (masters 2019). So aside from tuning in just to watch the GOAT, people are watching with the hope to see him be competitive after his gruesome leg injury.

He’s currently 12 shots out of the lead, so he has no real chance to win it today. But it’s a great sign to see him have a good round. He also looks a bit more comfortable walking around the course which has been a big issue since his injury.

1992 I work with a guy that has a wife who was IMGs president’s personal assistant. For a BDay gift they we’re deciding between a Tiger Woods autographed item or a Niki Taylor autograph. Since I was like 22 they figured I wanted the supermodel calendar. I was like thanks but you passed in a tiger woods autograph 😞.

The guy is a legend always has been and always will be so yes he will continue to pull big headlines.

Charlie

Nostalgia

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If we're talking tennis dominance then it has to be about Nadal and the French Open. I'm not sure there is any other record like it in sporting history.

Nadal has won the title at Roland Garros 14 times in 17 years and his current match record stands at 112-3. He is a legitimate monster - it doesn't even make sense.

Isn’t he playing in a tournament sponsored by the sort of car he completely wrecked?

Is three years a long time for him to not win a tournament? I don’t keep up in detail but it seems like he goes away and comes back a lot doesn’t he?

And it saved his life because of its safety features.

Just wait till his 13 year old son makes the tour.

Tiger’s father was a green beret and when he died Tiger started SEAL training. Not actual SEAL training but very similar exercises. It destroyed his back and he basically had to re-learn how to swing a club without aggravating his back so much.

Then came the accident with his leg which led to another re-tooling of his swing. And he’s still playing incredible golf. After watching yesterday’s round it’s clear he’s capable of winning again.

No doubt in my mind he’d still be a top 5 golfer regularly winning tournaments if it wasn’t for the injuries.

Some people would argue “nothing at all.” There are a segment of people who would say he’s a mid level golfer now and there are plenty of those.

For many people though, golf is really about the stories. Anyone that watched golf for the last 25 years or so knew who Tiger was and watched him change the face of golf. Those people are just happy to see him out there competing.

He’s 47 now; it’s unlikely he would be as dominant now as he was. That being said, no one had ever seen anything like Tiger. Hard to tell.

The death of his father coincided with a series of bad personal decisions that ended up wrecking his marriage. It is speculative, but it certainly seems accurate that his father dying had something to do with it.

First Eagle he’s made in a long time right? In Round 3?

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Agreed - but I think it’s hard to limit sports dominance to a single open.

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Tom Brady and Lionel Messi checking in here.

And Mikaela Schiffrin just GOATed in skiing. She is the best ever, male or female, and still probably has a few years left.

That was just one example of Nadal's sheer dominance on clay.

His overall record is 464-43. He won 13 consecutive clay court titles in the early 2000's and played in 18 back-to-back clay court finals. He reached the final at the French Open without dropping a single set 6 separate times.

He went 6-0 against Federer at the French Open and 14-2 on clay surface overall. Against Djokovic he's 8-2 at the French Open and 20-8 overall on clay.

Nadal isn't called the "King of Clay" for no reason!

Golf is more interesting with Tiger in the mix. He's like any other generational talent from any other sport. Basketball was better with Jordan playing. Hockey was better with Gretzky. Tennis with the Big 4. Like him or hate him Tiger is that dude for golf.

That 2019 Masters win was genuinely the most incredible bits of entertainment/sport I’ve ever witnessed

And Daly’s kid as well

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Warms my heart to see him back. Don't know if he'll ever win again, don't care, it's just good to see him professionally functional.

There is something about watching a one-legged man compete with some of the best in the world that is compelling. And he is practically a one-legged man.

I haven’t played golf in years. Hit the driving range maybe three times in the last couple years. Watching him yesterday made me want to go play, but alas it is winter here.

Shots like almost holing out from 180 yards for an albatross and putting it in for eagle is why he’s more fun to watch.

The tampon is working…

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Pionel Pessi

Agree with all that. But again if we’re talking dominance over a sport hard to limit to a single surface that represents a quarter of the season.

He’s big in golf, but Tiger Woods at that age already transcended his own sport and was a global icon.

I would say Rory is the closest like popularity wise to tiger and attention wise but it’s still not even close.

I mean there’s never gonna be another tiger. That’s not debatable. Golf as a sport tho has been doing fine tho. A lot of growth over the last decade or so specially during Covid and after a lot of people who never stepped on a course before got into the game because there wasn’t much else to do. The PGA might need to find another face, although they do have Rory but the actual sport of golfing isn’t suffering

And a near gimme eagle at that! Close to the albatross

He was involved in a car crash that almost killed him two years ago now. This is his first PGA Tour event since then. They essentially had to re-build his entire right leg it was so badly damaged. So it’s pretty impressive that he’s even able to walk let alone be competitive in a tournament with the best players in the world.

Before this accident he had a lot of other issues involving his back and “marital issues” that really impacted his career and longevity.

Basically it’s just a miracle the guy can still play golf.

Watching Tiger play the Masters is one of my favorite things.

The sports world in general misses out when greatness such as he doesn’t participate.

Fair enough. For me, 14 titles in 17 years and 112-3 is the definition of dominance. The French Open is also a major - it's most certainly not just "a single open" - all the best players are playing each year.

To put it in golf terms; if Justin Thomas won the next 12 straight PGA Championships he would still have a lower win rate than Nadal at the French Open. To be that much better than all your peers - when your peers are both the other best players in history - is absurd.

No objection here. He’s still one of the 3 I listed. Who are all only close to matched by one another.

I completely forgot about that car crash, I guess there has just been a lot of crazy stuff happening during and since that time.

Coincidently he’s banged 67 porn stars, 4 of which were under the age of 20

And if you are going to include Baseball, you gotta say Mariano Rivera. Best closer there will ever be. First ever unanimous Hall of Fame.

It’s all blurred together a bit lol

The guy’s amazing. Period. Just got to find a way to soak it all up. 😂

Fuck you for genuinely asking a good question I guess. I can’t think of a single other sport where watching a has been is more entertaining than watching people arguably better than that person at that point in time.

>Tiger, MJ and Gretzky stand alone in terms of athletes in my lifetime

If we can only put men's faces on this hypothetical Mt. Rushmore, I would swap Gretzky with Messi and I think the tides are shifting increasingly towards LeBron in place of MJ, depending on age. But it's also hard to choose from...

• Michael Phelps
• Serena Williams
• Mia Hamm
• Simone Biles
• Tom Brady
• Tony Hawk
• Federer
• Usain Bolt

One of the most extraordinary things about Tiger to me is that he created the same level of excitement (or more) around golf of all things. There won't be another one.

Beyond the simple fact that he's Tiger, he's playing with limited leg mobility and nothing like the musculature of a modern golf pro. His technique is so good that he can still outdrive some big hitters anyway.

The comparison to Thomas doesn't work at all. In tennis, a moderately better player wins 90%+ of the time. In golf, a better player outplaces a similarly worse player like 60% of the time. There is so much more randomness in golf

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Tiger was causing growth in golf when it was losing viewership and rounds were declining

Sshhh! Nobody can talk negatively of Tiger. Golf has some frail egos.

Hard upvote. If I could convert all my downvotes for what I said and give them to you, I would. Tiger fanboys are tripping over themselves to proclaim he’s a god.