Tiger Woods will keep playing in the big golf tournaments. I believe the strength of his legs
will determine how often he plays.
But he will never be the Tiger of old, the Tiger whose drives were so accurate, whose putts
were right where he wanted them to be.
Last weekend in the Open at St. Andrews’ Old Course, Tiger intended to win the tournament, but he couldn’t even make the cut, which he missed by 10 strokes. After Thursday’s first round, he said he believed he would need to shoot a 64 to make the cut. He shot a 75. His golf last
weekend was not that of champions.
As he approached the 18th hole on Friday, he crossed the Swilcan Bridge. When Jack Nicklaus
crossed the bridge for the last time, he waved goodbye to his adoring fans, acknowledging that it was his final time to play in the Open. Tiger acknowledged the fans by waving his cap. But his was not a last-time wave. But the fans’ cheers did elicit tears that he needed to wipe away.
I believe he will again have some great rounds. He may win some tournaments, but his
greatness is gone. We’ve seen it and it’s gone. He’s 46.
Open champion Cameron Smith, the Australian, made so many long putts I lost track. He shot a minus 20 to par, which tied the lowest score in major championship history. Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland started Sunday’s final round tied for the lead and four strokes better than No. 3. Hovland dropped down the line, finishing tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood, and McIlroy finished third behind Smith and another Cameron, Cameron Young of the United States.
After starting at 16 under, McIlroy parred his way to the end. He birdied holes 5 and 18. Hovland bogied hole 8 and birdied hole 12. Smith, who has improved his game by losing weight and working out, left his mark by birdying the second hole, then running off five straight birdies to start the second nine to tie McIIroy after 13 and take the lead after 14.
The greats in all sports finish in different ways. When his greatness was gone, Nicklaus simply walked away from the sport in 2000 as the greatest golfer of all time. He still is and he didn’t push it. Tiger will push it. Nicklaus is now 82 years old.
Jim Brown is the greatest football player of all time, but he walked away too, at the age of 29. Nine seasons were enough. He ruled the NFL for all of those seasons, leading the league in rushing in all but one season. Then he moved to Hollywood and started acting. He’s 86.
Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time as a Chicago Bull. But when the Bulls were rebuilding, he moved on to Washington for three seasons, playing for the team first, then becoming its owner. He was 39 years old in his last season and is 59 now. But he wasn’t as good playing for Washington as he was in Chicago.
Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, the famed New York Yankees, were both slowed by injuries that eventually resulted in their retirements, but they had played through the injuries and were never as good the last few years as they had been. DiMaggio was 36 when he retired; 84
when he died of lung cancer. Mantle was also 36 when he left baseball and died of liver cancer when he was 63.
Babe Ruth ruled the game for 22 years, hitting 714 home runs and winning 94 games pitching during his six years with Boston. He didn’t pitch, he just hit, during his 15 years with New York and a concluding year with the Boston Braves in 1935, when he was 40. He was finished after his Boston year, dying of cancer 13 years later at age 53.
